Kentucky farmers, truckers get relief with red diesel order

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Kentucky farmers and truckers can temporarily use tax-free, red-dyed diesel on public roads as state and federal officials move to provide relief from rising fuel costs.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order allowing tax-exempt, red-dyed diesel to be used beyond its traditional off-road purposes through Dec. 31.

“So tonight I’m going to sign a historic executive order to officially waive the off-road requirement and allow anyone to purchase tax-free red-dye diesel for any reason,” Trump said while announcing the order.

Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency allowing farmers and truckers to use untaxed or dyed diesel on public roads. Attorney General Russell Coleman also signed an executive order allowing Kentucky farmers to use the fuel on highways during harvest.

Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Jonathan Shell had been pushing for the change, saying farmers are facing higher fuel costs during an important time of year.

“We’ve got good yields. We’ve got good pricing that we’ve not had in the last couple of years. But now everything’s being ate up with this fuel cost,” Shell said.

Shell said the difference at the pump could provide significant savings for farmers.

“We’re looking at a savings of between 40 and 60 cents a gallon right now in order to try and alleviate some of that pressure,” Shell said.

He said the savings are especially important for an industry already facing pressure to remain profitable.

“The reason that it is so important, is because this right now in the state of Kentucky, we lose, on average, a farm a day from pressures, whether that be profitability, urban encroachment, buying up farmland, farmland transition, losing the farm. We lose farmers every single day,” Shell said.

Shell also pointed to the conflict involving Iran and the Strait of Hormuz as factors affecting energy costs.

“I can’t control the Strait of Hormuz, I can’t control the Iran war, I can’t control foreign trade,” Shell said. “But what we can’t control in Kentucky is this portion of it giving this relief to farmers.”

Shell said lower fuel costs could eventually provide some relief to consumers because diesel is also used to transport food and other goods.

“When we can save that 30 or 40, 50 cents a gallon in delivering the products all across the United States, that’s going to trickle down in some fashion to the consumer, we hope,” Shell said.

The change also applies to truckers, who can face significant fuel expenses.

James Carey, the former owner of Carey Trucking, said diesel was his second-largest business expense behind payroll when he operated two trucks.

“My biggest year, I was running two trucks. I spent about $60,000 in diesel fuel in one year alone. So that was my second biggest expense outside of payroll,” Carey said.

Carey said the temporary relief could make a significant difference for some small trucking operations.

“It is a short-term relief measure, but I will say that it could save somebody from going under,” Carey said.

Carey also said fuel costs can eventually affect consumers because of the role trucking plays in transporting goods.

Shell emphasized that the change is not a permanent solution to higher energy costs.

“This isn’t fixing anything. This isn’t the end-all, be-all,” Shell said. “But this is fixing a portion of it to find some relief on these diesel prices for farmers in the state of Kentucky and nationwide.”

Trump’s federal order is set to remain in effect through Dec. 31. Kentucky’s order is tied to the state of emergency and the federal relief period.

For farmers and truckers, the temporary change provides another option to help offset fuel costs during the fall harvest and amid elevated diesel prices.