Hoosier farmers hurt by fuel prices

NEW PARIS, Ind. -- Rising oil prices are putting a pinch on farmers who rely upon diesel-powered equipment and fertilizers made from petroleum.\nThe price of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, a petroleum product, is 30 percent higher than last year, said Russ Carlson, co-owner of T & T Fertilizer in New Paris, about 25 miles west of South Bend.\n"It's still not good with prices this high," he said. "It's not good for anybody."\nMike Morehouse uses 1,800 gallons of diesel fuel each week on his farm. The fuel is about 90 cents more a gallon than last year, when the 2,500 acre farm used nearly 10 tanker-loads.\n"Fuel's killing us. This is things getting way out of hand," he told The Truth of Elkhart for a story Saturday. "This doesn't look good for farmers at all."\nBrian Clayton, energy manager for the North Central Co-op in Goshen, said customers of his northern Indiana business are upset about the high energy costs.\n"Obviously they're not liking it, and they're complaining," he said.\nElkhart County Extension educator Loretta Ortiz-Ribbing said she hopes farmers will make changes that can conserve fuel and fertilizer, such as studying how they apply fertilizer and making fewer trips across a field.\n"This may be a wake-up call for farmers to realize they have to do things a little differently," she said.\nSome farmers said they're trying to save money by buying fuel in advance, hedging that prices will continue to climb.\nDeWayne Bontrager said he was able to cut nearly 50 cents a gallon from his gas tab when he locked in a price for fuel months ago.\n"They gave us an opportunity to buy ahead, so we did," he said. "Fertilizer's probably at an all-time high, but there again we bought early and were probably 50 bucks cheaper a ton than in season."\nThose moneysaving strategies could be thwarted if the summer's weather is dry, forcing farmers to run expensive irrigation systems.\nLyndon and Abe Martin said they hope prices offered for the corn and soybeans they grow on their 200-acre farm near Wakarusa are enough to cover their higher expenses this seasons. So far, the two have spent almost twice as much on fuel and fertilizer this year.\n"It definitely makes a difference," Lyndon Martin said. "We have no choice but to press forward. The world doesn't stop just because of high fuel cost"