Fuel, fertilizer price spikes pressure Manitoba farmers

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/03/2026 (197 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba farmers are facing massive cost increases and staring down uncertain futures during the spring planting season as the ongoing U.S.-Israel war with Iran damages the global movement of fuel and fertilizers via the Strait of Hormuz.

Brad Saluk, a crop farmer in the Rural Municipality of Brokenhead, said he anticipates losing up to half his income compared to last year due to the rising prices of key agricultural supplies.

“I feel like we’re a pawn in the game right now,” said Saluk, who is also the reeve of the RM. “We’re the ones feeding the country, but yet we’re getting hammered left, right, and centre with everything that’s going down.”

The lowest diesel price in Winnipeg on Tuesday afternoon was 176.9 cents per litre, with many rural stations hovering around 189.9/L, according to sector observer website Gasbuddy.com.

Saluk said he had already bought his fertilizer for this year prior to the war, but is worried if current prices remain into next year, it could run up the costs as much as $75 per acre for his 2,200-acre operation.

He said he also uses up to 800 L of fuel for an average day of running his tractor for 18 hours.

“When does it become a point where it doesn’t become feasible to farm anymore?” said Saluk, who’s been farming since 1988. “It’s a matter of who can hold out and survive another year.

“Right now, I’m trying to be optimistic.”

Jill Verwey, president of Keystone Agricultural Producers, said 30 per cent of the world’s nitrogen-based fertilizer moves through the area of conflict in the Middle East.

Verwey said, last year, urea or nitrogen fertilizer ranged from $600 to $800 per ton but are now sitting as $1,000 to $1,200.

She said being an agricultural producer right now means needing a “sharp pencil” in order to break even.

Josh Waito is a vegetable farmer in Beausejour who is in his seventh season. He often delivers his product to buyers, driving up to 700 kilometres a week.

“It’s frustrating, because the whole reason we kind of got into the small farming thing was to be able to provide affordable food for people,” said Waito.

Waito has decided not to raise prices this year and decided to absorb the additional fuel costs because a lot of people are struggling with rising food costs, he said.

— Toni De Guzman