The conflict in Iran has caused fuel prices to soar and Washington state farmers said it hits them hard when they are putting crops in the ground.

Diesel prices have reached record highs, with the statewide average over $6.50 a gallon.

Jason Vander Kooy, a dairy farmer in Skagit Valley and vice president of the advocacy group Save Family Farming, said the price hikes are coming right at the beginning of spring fieldwork.

“We’re really starting to go through some diesel,” Vander Kooy pointed out. “When everything’s rolling, we can go through 5,000 gallons in a week. So the timing is just way off on this. It’s going to impact us quite a bit.”

Vander Kooy said during spring planting, fuel usage spikes to five to seven times the normal usage. His 2,200-acre farm has 1,300 milk cows and grows feed crops like grass, corn and alfalfa.

Vander Kooy stressed he has no control over the price of the milk they produce.

“It’s not like I can go out and say, ‘Hey, I need more money for the milk that my cows produce to cover this cost.’ We can’t do that because our prices are set,” Vander Kooy explained. “We unfortunately are on a world market for our pricing.”

Vander Kooy added many other Washington state farmers are caught in the squeeze, as those growing row crops, such as potatoes, can require up to 12 to 14 passes through each field. He is not optimistic fuel prices will go down anytime soon.

“Reality is, as soon as the conflict started in Iran, we saw prices just start jumping up the next day,” Vander Kooy noted. “But if things calm down, it seems like it takes weeks or months for it to get back down to where it was.”

This story is republished from Public News Service, an independent, member-supported news organization and Certified B Corporation committed to increasing awareness of and engagement with critical public interest issues by reporting and delivering credible journalism and media packages through a network of independent state newswires.