President Trump campaigned on lowering prices for farmers, but his actions have instead led to the opposite result: American farmers are facing skyrocketing costs. Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran drove up the cost of diesel fuel just as farmers were set to start their spring planting – a process that requires millions of gallons of diesel fuel across the country. This comes after Trump’s tariffs have already significantly increased costs for farmers and made it more difficult for them to plan for the future. These increased costs harms are likely to further contribute to rising grocery costs.
This Joint Economic Committee – Minority analysis finds that farmers across the country spent $1.4 billion more on diesel fuel alone during this year’s planting season than they did last year; a 63 percent increase for certain key crops. This calculation only takes into account the diesel used to plant corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, and rice; it doesn’t take into account other war-related increases such as the increased costs of running diesel generators that power some greenhouses or the increases at the pump that farmers and truckers face when they drive products to market.
The Committee calculated the increase in overall diesel spending by farmers across the U.S. using diesel price data from AAA and the Energy Information Administration, estimates of average fuel use by crop and field operation from U.S. Department of Agriculture and Iowa State University Ag Decision Maker research, and U.S. Department of Agriculture data on 2025 and 2026 acreage and planting windows for corn, soybeans, wheat, rice, and cotton.
Increase in Diesel Costs for Farming by State
The Committee finds that, nationally, higher diesel prices increased the cost of planting major crops by more than $1.4 billion in 2026 compared to the previous year – a 63 percent increase. The tables below show the top 20 states by both the overall 2025-2026 increase in diesel costs associated with the planting of corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton and rice – five of the country’s most commonly grown crops – and the percentage increase, accounting for the difference in the scale of agricultural operations across states.
Increase in Farm Vehicle Fuel Costs
The Committee also finds that when diesel prices were at their peak during the spring 2026 planting season, the average farmer spent $1500 more to refill their farm’s onsite fuel tank – the common way that farmers buy and store diesel fuel – compared to the same high point during the 2025 planting season. In addition, farmers spent hundreds more to fill up just one tank of diesel for common tractors and grain trucks compared to last planting season.