When James Chinchiolo was growing up on his family’s walnut and cherry farm near Stockton, diesel was a “freely available resource.” He’d borrow a tank of diesel from a friend here; he’d give one back there.
“It definitely wasn’t anything that we would really even think twice about,” said Chinchiolo, who grows walnuts in Linden and cherries in Lodi.
Now the fourth generation of his family to manage the farm, Chinchiolo said the cost of diesel is a bite into his budget that keeps on growing. His farm spent $27,000 on fuels last year, and he expects that to climb by $10,000 this year as diesel prices soar — exactly as the harvest, a fuel-intensive activity, is occurring.
Across the Central Valley, California’s agricultural heartland, and in countless other farms across the state and nation, farmers have watched with astonishment and alarm as the price of diesel has set daily records after rising far more steeply than gas. Diesel in California cost $8.39 per gallon Friday, according to AAA — the highest it has ever been. That’s up $1.43 per gallon from a month ago and more than $3 per gallon from a year ago…