Wisconsin Farmers Face Financial Ruin as Diesel Prices Surge During Harvest Season

Wisconsin farmer Joel Greeno is struggling to keep his 160-acre farm in Kendall afloat. He has racked up significant credit card debt to cover the costs of equipment and fuel, and now faces lawsuits from creditors. Bankruptcy is a looming possibility as he enters the harvest season, which this year is compounded by skyrocketing diesel prices.

Diesel prices in Wisconsin have nearly doubled in the past year due to geopolitical conflicts and recent refinery issues in neighboring states. Prices have climbed from around $5.30 to over $6.50 per gallon in just the last month, according to AAA. Greeno, a board member of Family Farm Defenders, warns that these fuel costs are squeezing already tight profit margins for farmers.

'When you’re talking cents a bushel on your corn crop that you hope is profit … for a lot of guys, this may just be the end,' Greeno said. Randy Romanski, Wisconsin’s secretary of agriculture, confirms that financial distress is rising among farmers, with increased calls to the state’s farm center for consulting and transition planning.

Farm bankruptcies in Wisconsin have risen for the second consecutive year, though Greeno notes that many struggling farmers avoid formal bankruptcy proceedings. Instead, they often sell their land and equipment outright. Greeno himself has considered selling but is reluctant to see his farmland broken up into smaller parcels. The financial strain on farmers is severe, with suicide rates among this group spiking in recent decades.