As seventh-generation Clark County farmer John Yeley drives across acres of harvest-ready soybeans in his combine, he’s thinking about the cost of fueling it.
“Everybody’s just trying to get the crops taken in in a timely manner and biting a bullet and eating the cost like you have to,” he said. “There’s no stopping it.”
Yeley, president of his county’s Farm Bureau, grows more than 3,500 acres of corn and soybeans and burns up to 600 gallons of diesel a day during harvest. But as fuel prices have climbed since the war in Iran began in February, he said he’s had to buy fuel in smaller amounts in hopes of managing the cost.
“There’s a lot of stress. The markets are so volatile,” he said. “You hear all this outside news from the world. OK, how’s that going to affect the markets? So making solid, sound decisions is tougher all the time.”
Now, as Illinois farmers are in the midst of harvest season, one of their busiest periods for fuel consumption, Gov. JB Pritzker earlier this month issued an executive order temporarily easing restrictions on red-dyed diesel, a tax-exempt fuel limited to off-road uses such as farm equipment. The order allows farmers to use the fuel to transport commodities on highways and state roads through Dec. 31 without facing state penalties.
The move came a day after the Trump administration issued its own executive order to help truckers and farmers, temporarily easing federal restrictions on dyed diesel and deferring the federal motor fuel tax.
But farmers across Illinois say the relief may do little to offset costs they’ve already incurred. Some, like McHenry County farmer Chris McKee, have opted not to use dyed fuel on roads because they’re uncertain about the documentation required, whether they could face penalties after the relief period ends and whether the federal tax will eventually come due.
“The executive orders, are they nice? Yeah. Are they going to help us? No,” Yeley said. “It’s a little bit too late.”
Poor timing
Since the war in Iran began, Illinois farmers have faced rising fuel and fertilizer costs during critical growing and harvesting seasons. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key global shipping route, has added uncertainty to commodity markets and energy prices.
Days after issuing the dyed diesel order, Trump announced a controversial deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to release hundreds of thousands of tons of Russian diesel fuel onto the global market, blaming Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil and gas infrastructure for soaring fuel prices, while downplaying Iran. The first tanker carrying Russian diesel to the United States has set sail, the Kremlin said Friday.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the national price of standard diesel rose from $3.75 per gallon in September 2025 to $6.29 in September 2026. Midwest prices have also sharply risen 38% over the past year.
Dyed diesel is identical to regular diesel, just dyed red to indicate it’s a tax-exempt form of fuel for off-road purposes for industries like agriculture and construction.
For farmers, the timing of this relief matters. Yeley said many growers typically purchase fuel in bulk by August, before harvest is in full swing in October. This year, he has instead purchased fuel piecemeal to manage rising prices.
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“If they’re really concerned about farming, this would have been in effect back in March or April, back when it would have made a difference,” Yeley said. “Not a month before an election.”
With midterm elections approaching and Pritzker seeking reelection, Yeley questioned whether the state and federal orders were intended to appeal to farming voters.
“I don’t know that either (executive) order will help sway a vote,” he said. “We’ve already been in this situation for a long time now, and doing something last minute I don’t think is going to make much difference.”
A spokesperson for the governor’s office said the administration acted in response to rising fuel costs.
“President Trump is scrambling to clean up a mess of his own making — his tariffs and war in Iran are squeezing farmers and driving up costs during the critical fall harvest,” the spokesperson said in an Oct. 13 statement to the Tribune.
Jennifer Walling, chief executive of the Illinois Environmental Council, said the price spikes highlight the risks of relying on fossil fuels.
“Supporting farmers over the long term means investing in cleaner technology and modernizing our agricultural and transportation infrastructure so we’re less dependent on fuels that pollute our air, contribute to climate change, and expose us to unpredictable costs,” she said.
An uncertain road
For multigenerational farmers such as Yeley and McKee, the financial pressures raise questions about whether the next generation will be able to continue farming.
“Everybody would like to see the younger generation come up and farm. It’s a heritage that you like to pass on,” Yeley said. “But on the flip side, there’s a lot of stress. … I don’t want my kids to have to deal with the stress level that I’m in.”
In Woodstock, near the Wisconsin border, McKee expects to spend as much as $60,000 more this harvest season to fuel his farming operations.
“(Fuel) is probably the highest it’s ever been for us,” said McKee, who’s also president of the McHenry County Farm Bureau.
Even with those costs, McKee said he has chosen not to use red-dyed diesel in vehicles that he would use to haul crops or meat products to market on public roads because he’s uncertain about what records he would need to keep and risking penalties down the road.
“We’ve chosen not to put red dye in on-road vehicles at this point, just because you’re going to have to prove what you did, your miles,” he said. “All of that tells me that it’s more of a smoke and mirror at this time.”
Red-dyed diesel is ordinarily exempt from state and federal motor fuel taxes. Using it illegally on public highways can carry significant penalties.
Under normal Illinois rules, drivers caught using dyed diesel on public roads face a $1,000 penalty for a first offense and a $5,000 fine and Class 4 felony for a second offense, according to the Illinois Department of Revenue.
Pritzker’s order temporarily suspends these penalties through the end of the year. The governor’s office says the relief could save farmers 80 cents per gallon.
But farmers must still document their fuel use. Revenue department guidance calls for records including the gallons used, dates of fuel purchases and when dyed diesel was last added to a tank. Farmers must also be able to demonstrate agricultural use, including through trip sheets and transportation contracts.
For growers already working long days to bring in their crops, the additional recordkeeping can be a burden.
“It’s just one more thing to keep track of in the fall,” McKee said. “You’re working long hours, just a million things going on. It’s just one more thing to do, and potentially get in trouble for it later on.”
Yeley said farmers across downstate Illinois have similar concerns.
“I think there’s a lot of confusion in the farming community about how we do this legally,” he said. “And the guidelines have just not been very well put out by either Pritzker or Trump.”
The Dec. 31 expiration date has raised another question for farmers: What happens if red dye remains in their fuel tanks after the relief period ends?
Even after a tank is switched back to regular diesel, red dye can remain in the system for months, said Maura Kownacki, a spokesperson for the revenue department.
This has left farmers uneasy about whether they could face penalties in the new year. The state guidance requires farmers to retain fuel receipts after the relief period ends.
Rodney Knittel, associate director of transportation and infrastructure for the Illinois Farm Bureau, said he’s not seen direction on whether there will be a grace period to allow farmers to clear their tanks.
The uncertainty extends to the federal order’s tax provisions. Trump’s action defers the federal motor fuel tax, Knittel said, leaving questions about whether the tax will eventually have to be paid.
“The guidance that they have to go with, it is probably going to be too late before we actually know, are you paying this tax later on? Is it forgiven? Are they dropping it?” McKee said. “We just don’t know what’s happening.”
Pritzker’s executive order does provide tax guidance, Kownacki said.
“Illinois’ order doesn’t leave a tax bill to be collected later,” she added. “It creates a new use for tax-free fuel.”
While the Trump order allows any motor vehicle to use dyed diesel on public roads, the governor’s office said the state’s order is specifically for farmers.
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“This is temporary relief to help farmers manage unusually high fuel costs during the fall harvest,” the spokesperson said. “The administration will continue monitoring fuel prices and availability and explore whether additional temporary relief is needed beyond December 31.”
Pritzker’s executive order also directs the Illinois Department of Transportation to extend its harvest permit program into 2027 if diesel shortages continue. The program increases weight limits on certain trips by 10%, allowing farmers to move more crops in fewer trips, according to the governor’s office.
But, like the dyed-diesel relief, it remains to be seen whether the program will be extended into the new year, Knittel said.
“I’m trying to stay optimistic, maybe it’s not needed, but it’s gonna take some time for some to recover,” Knittel said. “So any help would help a lot of our guys.”
In Indiana, Gov. Mike Braun suspended the gas use and excise taxes in April to offset rising fuel costs, providing relief of up to 61 cents per gallon for highway motorists. The gas tax suspension has been extended through Nov. 7 along with red-dyed diesel relief for farmers through Dec. 31.
Yeley, who lives three miles from the Indiana state line, said differences in fuel costs have been noticeable.
“I can go over to Indiana and buy gasoline 75 cents cheaper than I can in Illinois,” he said.
For Yeley, the temporary fuel relief is only one part of a much larger financial strain on Illinois agriculture for the past four years. Some farmers in his area have closed their operations in the past year, he said, while rising debt loads are showing up on farm balance sheets.
He’s been in charge of his family’s farm for nearly 30 years and said the current conditions have been unusually difficult.
“We’ve had a couple farmers folded up this year or within the last year,” Yeley said. “It’s getting tough. I mean, I talk to people in the financial industry in farming, and they can see it on balance sheets. They can see the debt load increasing. It’s getting tough, and I can tell you that it’s going to be four years in a row with either breaking even or a loss.”
Christiana Freitag is a freelancer.