Farmer Face Higher Diesel Prices and First NWS Case in Arizona
From the Western Ag Network, I’m Bob Larson with your Agribusiness Update.
**U.S. farmers are facing an estimated $2.4 billion increase in diesel expenses during the 2025-26 planting and harvesting season.
That’s according to an October analysis by Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee.
The study projects a 68% year-over-year increase in diesel spending across five major crops: corn, soybeans, spring wheat, cotton, and rice.
The committee also estimates refilling a typical 750-gallon farm fuel tank now costs nearly $2,000 more nationally.
**Interior Secretary Doug Burgum signed an order aimed at expanding livestock grazing on public lands, improving rangeland health, and reducing the risk of wildfires.
This directs the Interior Department and Bureau of Land Management to increase grazing access, including vacant grazing allotments ranchers say could provide additional forage.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and Public Lands Council support the move, saying it could improve land management and help ranchers rebuild the nation’s cattle herd.
**USDA has confirmed Arizona's first case of New World screwworm, raising concerns about the parasite's potential spread into American livestock herds.
USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced that lab testing confirmed the parasite in a dog in Cochise County, near the Mexican border.
ABC News reports, the detection makes Arizona the third state to report an animal infection, following cases in Texas and New Mexico.
