LANSING, Mich. – Michigan has joined Indiana and Ohio in allowing farmers to burn tax-free diesel fuel in their semi-trucks hauling grain during this year’s harvest to provide relief from record high prices at the pumps.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, on Oct. 12 signed Executive Order No. 2026-15, which suspends restrictions on the use of tax-free red-dyed diesel fuel so farmers can burn it on public roads and highways.

Her decision will save farmers in her state 52 cents a gallon at a time of rising costs nationwide for other inputs like fertilizer and seed. The order declaring a statewide energy emergency also extends the use of the tax-free diesel fuel on public roads and highways to loggers.

The restrictions will be restored once the order expires Dec. 31.

“Michigan farmers and loggers face unprecedented financial strain from record high fuel prices, tight margins and significant market volatility. Therefore, granting eligible highway-licensed vehicles temporary access to this fuel would provide immediate relief,” she wrote in her order.

Normally, farmers can only burn the tax-free diesel fuel in tractors, combines and other heavy machinery used in their fields.

The taxed diesel must be used by farmers to operate semi-trucks because the tax revenue collected from all sales of the fuel goes toward road maintenance.

Both fuels are the same product except for the dye, which allows excise police to know if farmers are complying with the restrictions.

While food producers in the state appreciate the savings, farmers like Jay Williams, of Waldron, wish the order would have come a few weeks sooner to provide relief at the very beginning of this year’s harvest.

“I think, overall, in the farm community it’s a positive that something is being done. I think it would have been received better had it not been delayed for quite as long as it was,” he said.

According to AAA, diesel fuel prices on average nationwide set a record in September at $6.53 per gallon, an increase of more than 70 percent from a year ago.

Michigan Farm Bureau was among the organizations in the industry calling for the tax waiver about two weeks prior to the governor’s decision.

Williams, who serves on the board for the Michigan Soybean Association, said the savings will not be a make or break for growers, and his savings will be less since markets for his corn and soybeans are within relatively short distances from his fields.

His 1,600 acres of corn, soybeans and wheat are in fields in Michigan and nearby Ohio, where farmers are saving 47 cents a gallon on tax-free diesel fuel in their grain hauling trucks during the harvest under an order from Gov. Mike DeWine that went into effect Oct. 4.

Gov. Mike Braun’s waiver of the diesel fuel tax for harvesting farmers hauling grain in Indiana began on Oct. 6.

Williams said the savings will be greatest on farmers hauling grain to buyers longer distances away.

“For us, we got markets fairly local. We don’t have to truck super far. Others have a lot further trips to their market. It, obviously, would be a bigger deal for them,” he said.

Williams said a better more long-term solution would be to increase U.S. production of diesel fuel made from soybeans. He said more fuel on the market would bring down the prices by increasing supply and making the country less reliant on diesel made in other countries.

“It’s a product we grow right here in the United States. We can refine diesel fuel out of that and not be subject to some of the global issues that cause spikes in fuel cost,” he said.

The best solution, perhaps, would be for the prices on other farm inputs to come back down since things like fertilizer and seed are used in much greater quantities than fuel.

“Diesel is a very small part of input costs. Extremely small portion,” Williams said.

As of press time, the tax on diesel fuel has been waived for harvesting farmers in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Texas.