The average price of diesel is now $6.19 in Pennsylvania. Diesel prices are up 75 percent from one year ago. Farmers are struggling to obtain and/or afford diesel fuel and are therefore unable to get their crops out of the ground.

The Morning Call reports that Pennsylvania farmers are getting "crushed" by the record diesel prices, and the situation will most certainly affect food prices and bring about new food shortages in the coming months.

Farmers left stranded and broke, unable to harvest this year's crop
A report from Lehigh County, Pennsylvania found a farmer completely stranded, unable to get diesel fuel and unable to operate his tractor. He cannot afford to harvest the corn he planted earlier in the year. The farmer reached out to Kyle Kotzmoyer, a legislative affairs specialist at the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. Kotzmoyer testified to the state legislature on behalf of the farmers struggling to make ends meet. "We have reached that point to where it is very close to being a sinking ship. We are teetering on the edge right now," Kotzmoyer told the legislature.

If farmers can't pay to get the crops out of the ground, then the domestic US food supply will take another blow. On average, a farmer responsible for 3,500 acres will burn about 2,000 gallon of diesel every month. As the cost of farming doubles from just a year ago, many farmers may only be able to harvest a little over half of what they once produced. Many may sell their corn and bean seeds back so they can harvest hay, which has a better return on investment.