Diesel prices are soaring to unprecedented heights at precisely the juncture when myriad American agriculturists require the fuel to operate combines, tractors and other machinery for the harvesting of two of the nation’s most bountiful commodities: soybeans and corn.

The spike compounds what has already been a gruelling year for these farmers, who have likewise contended with inflated costs for fertilizer, seeds and equipment.

On Sept. 4, diesel attained a record price in the U.S., surging to an average of $5.85 a gallon for the first time, as the six-month war with Iran disrupted the world's flow of fuel.

It has climbed even higher since, commanding an average price of $6.05 a gallon on Friday, according to AAA.

“Those prices are injurious,” remarked Paul Mitchell, a professor of agricultural and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“And it is not merely the harvesting.

It is the hauling of everything, the conveyance of the grain or the silage from the field to the farm and thence from the farm to wherever they happen to be selling it.”

Jason Kurtz, a corn and soybean farmer near Forest City, Missouri, said he was paying twice as much for diesel this year.

His combine uses 200 gallons (750 liters) of fuel a day; he expected to run it for 30 days.

He also needed diesel for a tractor and trucks.

"We are left with no alternative but to harvest," he remarked during an interview conducted at his farm, situated approximately 90 miles (145 kilometers) beyond Kansas City, on Tuesday.

"We are left with no alternative but to operate the machines.

We are left with no alternative but to consume the diesel, and consequently, this encroaches upon our bottom line."

Kurtz, 49, remarked that his finances were “already tight” this year, having moreover been compelled to disburse greater sums on fertilizer and chemicals.

According to AAA, American diesel prices have now surged to a level 60% higher than that recorded prior to the joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran in late February, when the national average stood at approximately $3.76 per gallon.

Prices escalated precipitously as the cost of crude oil — the principal constituent of diesel no less than of gasoline — soared amid wartime disruptions to tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

“Farms that are cash-strapped—those are the ones most compelled to determine what must be jettisoned to make this work,” Mitchell said.

“A great many farms find themselves in precisely that predicament.”

Kurtz, who had cast his ballot for President Donald Trump, remarked that he intended to defer certain agricultural tasks until a later juncture, at which point he was optimistic that diesel prices would decline.

"That constitutes one redeeming facet of husbandry," he remarked.

"Tomorrow shall prove otherwise."