COLGATE, WI — Diesel prices in Wisconsin have hit a new record of $6.1275 a gallon according to AAA, and the timing could not be worse for farmers heading into harvest season.
For Rodger Basse, owner of Basse's Taste of Country in Colgate, the record price means an expensive few months ahead. Along with crops, the farm offers dozens of activities like corn mazes and pumpkin picking. To keep operations running, Basse relies on around 8 diesel tractors.
Starting this weekend, those tractors will run several hours a day, multiple times a week, pulling wagons full of visitors around the farm — on top of the demands of the incoming harvest.
More About the Burden Farmers Are Facing Here
"I can't say I'm happy about it," Basse said.
"We're coming into that season for farmers where we're using a lot of tractors, we're going to spend a lot of hours on these tractors, which means we're going to be using a lot of diesel at the same time," Basse said.
Experts at GasBuddy, which tracks fuel prices, warn the trend could continue. Patrick De Haan posted on social media that diesel prices could jump at least another 55 cents this week.
ALERT: #GreatLakes and #Rockies regions are likely to see another price hike this week, even with price jumps that happened already yesterday and today due to huge jumps in wholesale gasoline and diesel prices. Gasoline could jump 25-75c with diesel rising 55-85c/gal
— Patrick De Haan (@GasBuddyGuy) September 15, 2026
Despite the rising costs, Basse says he plans to hold the line on prices for Pumpkin Fest.
"We're going to keep our prices the same, we already sold tickets and everything for our pumpkin fest so we're going to honor those prices, but it does hurt the bottom line," Basse said.
Basse says he hopes rising diesel prices will be offset by higher prices for his crops, though he acknowledges that is not always how it works out.
"When prices of diesel go up, it's like oh man another thing that's going to hurt, and hopefully the other end goes up where you can sell your product for higher, but that's not always the case," Basse said.
For now, many farmers say the only option is to keep paying at the pump.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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