<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Crippling fuel and fertiliser shortages are forcing Australian </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/farmers" rel="" target="" title="farmers "><span>farmers</span></a><span> to make gut-wrenching decisions that could affect our food supply.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Some growers are now abandoning planting crops this season, a move that could trigger a nationwide food crisis for months.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>For farmers in the </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/new-south-wales" rel="" target="" title="NSW "><span>NSW </span></a><span>Central West the fuel crisis is the breaking point in a string of relentless hardships.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>LIVE UPDATES:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/us-israel-iran-war-live-updates-april-5-donald-trump-latest-world-news-headlines/100894e5-3478-48c2-8b8f-1bd882f5eb66"><strong><span>'WE GOT HIM': Downed US airman rescued in high-stakes operation</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Already battling a fertiliser shortage some are now choosing to abandon potential crops just to salvage what's left of their livelihoods and shrinking profit margins.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They're stretching every resource as far as they can in an uphill battle that is only getting steeper.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"How do we know if we grow a crop we're gonna have fuel to harvest it so that's in the back of everyone's mind," Parkes farmer Wayne Dunford said.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/iran-israel-usa-war-farmers-food-nsw/9cdce10a-e191-417e-b117-666a273135fa" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It's the start of cropping season. There's no rain, no fertiliser and fuel prices are soaring.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It's a turbulent trifecta forcing some to abandon paddocks that would have been sown with winter grains, a decision rarely made.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I've been here 60 years and I've never made it," Dunford said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Diesel prices have now doubled to more than $3 a litre.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/artemis-ii-moon-mission-nasa-toilet/bfbca175-2724-4f3d-a2a1-9a0f4b3d02b7"><strong><span>Artemis II toilet acts up again as astronauts speed toward the moon</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Urea, a fertiliser derived from gas and oil is now at disastrously low levels and what's left of it is exorbitantly priced.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Analysts say the peak of fuel prices is yet to come unless the war in the Middle East ends.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Meat, fruit and vegetables are all expected to </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/iran-us-israel-war-grocery-prices-fuel-rise/ec61521e-3af5-480e-bac4-5b20546d1913" rel="" target="" title="cost 20 per cent more in as little as three weeks"><span>cost 20 per cent more in as little as three weeks</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The government maintains there is enough fuel but those who literally feed the country are crying out that it's not where it's needed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Nicholson Petroleum, which supplies on-farm deliveries to hundreds of farmers around Forbes has been left to run dry.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Before all this started we already had a good 120,000-150,000 litres booked in to go out to the farmers. We're up to over 300,000 we need to get out there now," Sonya Drabsch from the firm said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/dezi-freeman-victoria-police-respond-sisters-of-neal-thompson-plan-to-sue/dacd655c-c884-42af-8b3c-8c607ef7d1f8"><strong><span>Victoria Police respond as sisters of constable killed by Dezi Freeman plan to sue</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It's crunch time now for the farmers. They need the fuel not just now, they needed it weeks ago.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We don't have any fuel, we've run out twice now."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The independent supplier must deliver bad news daily to farmers who drop in asking, "When is the fuel coming?"</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"They've been having to go to the bigger servos and they've been turned away with their pods because you're not allowed to fill up the pods," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Richard Smith, who delivers the fuel to farms spanning hundreds of kilometres, said they're even losing orders.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We had 46,000 coming on Monday, it was diverted because someone else paid more money than we had," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Chris Groves in Cowra is using his fuel sparingly and cutting back on the wheat and canola he sows, instead replacing them with grazing varieties.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The long term ramifications of that is we're going to see in the supermarkets and the community later on," he warned.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/nsw-motorists-encouraged-to-dob-in-servos-as-93-locations-fined-for-price-gouging/8af78fb3-4803-4deb-a0e9-5cf512633c2c"><strong><span>Motorists encouraged to dob in servos as 93 locations fined for price gouging</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ed Fagan from Mulyan is skipping winter grains altogether, instead banking on his beets, which depend on water pumped by diesel.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It is not knowing when that next delivery is going to come and you know we're using diesel every day, I can't stop it," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Whether planting, irrigating or harvesting, more than 85 per cent of farms across the country rely on diesel.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Farmers say this is the wake-up call Australia needs to prioritise our reserves over exports.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Our competitors in Canada and the US and Europe and Russia all have a lower cost of production than we do," Fagan said.</span></div></div><div class="styles__Wrapper-sc-2o34ro-0 cmwkBV"><div class="styles__Column-sc-2o34ro-3 jJDKrX"><a href="/content/2025/04/04/09/03/today-in-history-april-5-what-happened-on-this-day"><img alt="" sizes="(min-width: 1024px) 636px, (min-width: 768px) 396px, 100vw" src="https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/sbO6d0C9JFUuMAy0TuwSpjjzXWQ=/396x223/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2Fded54b9c-cf76-44bd-af0f-91d048f991c0" srcset="https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/sbO6d0C9JFUuMAy0TuwSpjjzXWQ=/396x223/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2Fded54b9c-cf76-44bd-af0f-91d048f991c0 396w, https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/To9_3qmLj9_3gKrOP13c3Xr2BKQ=/636x358/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2Fded54b9c-cf76-44bd-af0f-91d048f991c0 636w"/></a></div><div class="styles__Column-sc-2o34ro-3 jJDKrX"><div class="styles__Headline-sc-2o34ro-4 hpbOlz">Suspicions raised after skydiver falls 1200m and survives</div><div class="styles__Button-sc-2o34ro-1 eBjlmW"><a class="styles__ButtonLink-sc-2o34ro-2 hqpklJ" href="/content/2025/04/04/09/03/today-in-history-april-5-what-happened-on-this-day">View Gallery</a></div></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/new-covid-cicada-variant-symptoms-mutation-immunity-evasion-everything-to-know-explained/5ed222f5-664f-4140-974a-039d14f0baf8"><strong><span>COVID-19 strain sweeping the US set to become a 'feature' of Aussie winter wave</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Most of them make their own oil and gas so they've got an advantage on us.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"So we're in a position where we're probably the most exposed of any agriculture country on earth."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Groves added: "We need to be able to source fuel, we need some sort of measure to say that fuel will be no more than X amount of dollars by harvest.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"That would then give some people the confidence to go ahead and plant a crop."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The situation is bad now, and the fear is, it's only going to get worse. Farmers are bitter.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I probably put more of an emphasis on what the analysts are saying rather than the politicians, because you know, they lie for a living so why would you believe them on this," Fagan said.</span></div></div>