Soaring fuel costs in the wake of Hurricane Katrina could not have come at a worse time for farmers in the nation's heartland.
The most immediate impact is the rising costs of not only the fuel to run combines and planters, but all the costs associated with petroleum-made products farmers use like herbicides and propane.
Fertilizer prices now cost upwards of $450 per ton, up from about $200 per ton.
That is especially painful in places like Kansas, where farmers typically fertilize their fields at the time they seed next year's winter wheat crop.
Further aggravating the spikes in fuel costs may be some of the collateral impacts from reduced barge traffic on the Mississippi River.