Trucking News · Oklahoma · October 26, 2026

Oklahoma Farmer Says Diesel Runs Nearly Two Grand a Day Just for Combines

A grain semi truck waiting at the edge of a golden soybean field during harvest under a wide sky — Illustration for this story. Not a photo of a specific location.

Harvest is in full swing at Rendel Farms in Miami, Oklahoma, and diesel is eating into every acre. Zack Rendel, a sixth-generation farmer, told FOX23 that the price of diesel is adding to the challenges this year.

"Five dollar diesel, that's a lot of money rolling through. That's almost two grand a day in just combines," Rendel said.

A good harvest, tight margins

The crop itself has been good. "Our corn harvest this year was excellent," Rendel said. The farm finished its corn and milo harvest and was rolling into soybeans, he told FOX23.

Profit is another matter. Rendel said the line between break-even, a loss and a profit is "literally dollars per acre."

He said commodity prices have risen in the past month or two, but that input costs have risen "the same amount, if not double, what our commodity prices were," leaving revenue per acre about the same.

Why it matters on the road

Every harvest season, grain and soybeans leave the field on trucks, and the same diesel prices hit farm haulers and the carriers that move crops to elevators and processors. Rendel's numbers are about combines, not trucks, but the fuel bill is the same kind of pressure.

Truckers can estimate a trip's fuel bill with the truck fuel cost calculator, or check whether a harvest load pays with the load rate checker.

A life on the farm

Rendel said he started running equipment when he was 8 years old. Through the stress, he talks things over with his dog, Clark, whom he calls his right-hand man.

"Luckily for me, he can't talk back," Rendel said.

He says he loves the work. "I wouldn't do what I do every day if I didn't love it. I can't ever picture myself doing anything different," he told FOX23.