Eastern Carolina farmers struggle amid high fuel costs

BEAUFORT COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) - Some eastern Carolina farmers are struggling as fuel costs continue to rise.

Multiple farmers said they’ve never seen such sudden fuel price hikes, which adds to the challenges they’re already facing.

Jimmy Fulcher is a farmer in Craven County. He said these spikes can spell doom for farmers.

“We don’t have anyone to push those additional costs on. We’re already looking at very small profits per acre on crops,” Fulcher said.

Fulcher said the cost of diesel is the highest he’s ever seen.

Darren Armstrong is a Republican state House nominee and is a farmer himself. He echoed Fulcher’s worries.

“I’ve never seen prices jump to levels like they are now as fast as they’ve jumped. It was almost impossible to prepare for it,” Armstrong said.

Armstrong said farmers have been struggling with inputs for several years. He said this year when some farmers may feel like they have a lot of that figured out, they’re not ready for an unexpected event like this.

He said this causes them to change course and buy in small amounts over time, hoping the average over a year period is more manageable.

“The inflation rate has far surpassed what our income is,” Armstrong said.

High fuel costs also impact fertilizer costs. Both farmers we spoke to said fuel touches fertilizer in several different ways, so when fuel goes up, fertilizer naturally follows.

Fulcher said farming is a faith-based business, and he’s hopeful for brighter days ahead.

“We just feel like things will get better. Maybe that’s an optimistic way to look at it, but we don’t feel like we have any choice except that,” Fulcher said.

Fulcher added that with pretty much everything their farm needs, a truck is involved. That means high fuel costs affect everything they buy, including commodities and even freight on parts.

Both farmers said a main reason they don’t have many ways to pass these costs on to someone else is because they price items based on commodity markets, and farmers typically have to follow what the markets are trading at.