Hunter
09/24/26
The Iowa Corn Growers Association is asking Iowa congressional delegates to help lower the cost of diesel fuel as the harvest season begins.
Iowa Capitol Dispatch reports association President Steve Kuiper wrote in a letter to Iowa’s senators and four representatives that while harvest season should be a positive time of year for farmers, the concern of affordability is accelerating the economic and mental stress farmers are feeling.
Current average diesel prices are $6.27 a gallon in Iowa, nearly twice as expensive as this time last year.
In the letter, corn growers asked lawmakers to push the Trump administration to “further release oil from the U.S. Strategic Oil Reserve.” The Reserve is an emergency reserve of crude oil for the nation that has been drawn upon during crises. A GAO report in June said the reserve held less than 350 million barrels after the Trump administration approved the release of 172 billion barrels of oil from the reserve in March.
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley has called for an embargo on the export of US diesel fuel to provide relief for farmers. Representative Ashley Hinson said in a social media post Monday that the House should return to Washington DC immediately to pause diesel exports, suspend the gas tax, fully unleash E15 and biodiesel, and work on a diesel relief program for truckers and farmers.