FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — Indiana farmers continue to deal with high diesel prices and other costs that impact their operations.

WANE 15 spoke with Tom Miller from Miller Family Farms in Waterloo on Thursday about those costs.

He said the price of diesel fuel is easily the biggest complaint he hears in farming circles.

To make matters worse, Miller said that forecasters they work with expect cost of fuel to raise back up to where it recently peaked or higher in the coming summer.

Currently, prices has dipped a bit and Miller said that helps. Farmers can book ahead on purchases.

At their farm, Miller said they were lucky last fall because they still had fuel left over from the spring. When they went to buy more, he said the sticker shock was “amazing.”

Additionally, the cost of diesel to transport their product in semis is an added frustration.

Miller knows farming can be unpredictable, but said the last few years have been tough with the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

“We’ll see what the war does,” he said. “I mean, that conflict can really push our grain prices and diesel fuel gas prices one way or another overnight, while we sleep. So, we’ve got to be on top of it as much as we possible can.”

The cost of harvesting and transporting ultimately results in higher grocery prices. Miller said the Chicago Board of Trade sets the amounts and farmers can sell when they want, but they have to sell to make money.

“That hurts your bottom line right off the bat. I mean, look at the price of everything right now – the price of eggs, the price of a loaf of bread. That trickles down. When it costs so much to transport from A to B, somebody has to pay that cost,” Miller said.

He recently read an analyst’s prediction that Ukraine will only plant 36% of the corn it normally would — another impact on the global economy, including farmers in Indiana and Ohio.

At the same time, he acknowledges that there are people in Ukraine fighting for their lives and what they deal with on a day to day basis, while it all impacts markets, is something that can’t be forgotten.

Ultimately, Miller looks forward to wheat coming out of dormancy in a month to see how things look after the winer.

He said their harvest last fall was one of the most beautiful he can remember.

A fifth generation farmer, he’s passionate about farming and how fragile their operation can be.

“People don’t realize how much money it takes to run these operations. One fail and you could take out a whole operation,” Miller said. “We’re here to make the water and the land better for whatever the future might hold.”