This post is part of a series chronicling news coverage of rising prices in the United States. See more here.
Missouri's KY3 reported rising diesel prices are hitting meat producers “from the pasture to the processor”
Meat producer: “It's always on the front of our mind that, you know, we might have to raise prices if things keep going like they are”
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From a May 15, 2026, video uploaded to the website of KY3
ROB MACKO (ANCHOR): Rising gas and diesel prices, they're hitting more than just drivers. Local cattle and meat producers say that it's raising costs from the pasture to the processor. KY3's Connor Trett went to the Willard Farmers Market and spoke with a couple of producers about how high gas prices have an effect on prices at the market.
KARA HOSMAN (MEAT PRODUCER): We want to be able to provide a premium product to our local consumers and just trying to find the best price point for them while we are also making money too.
CONNOR TRETT (REPORTER): For meat producers at the Willard Farmers Market, the rising price of fuel and diesel has started to drive up the back end costs of raising and processing their animals.
JOSH BUCKNER (MEAT PRODUCER): Our butcher is all the way down in Monett, and when you're driving an hour and a half just to take one beef, you're definitely starting to think can we take 2 or 3 or, or a beef and a hog or, you know, something like that to maximize the trips?
TRETT: The cost of growing and cutting hay for the feed has also gone up.
HOSMAN: We really try to minimize our tractor and diesel use just because of cost, and when we're in full production of cutting our hay and putting it up, we would go through about 50 gallons in a day, and it does add up.
TRETT: The rising overhead has started to translate into higher sale prices.
HOSMAN: It helps us on the animal side, but we were even just talking the other night, do we need to go up another quarter or 50 cents just to help cover our processing costs, our fuel costs, and everything.
BUCKNER: So far we have not had to raise our prices too much. I think we've raised a dollar here, you know, just trying to stay competitive with every other market, but, you know, it's always on the front of our mind that, you know, we might have to raise prices if things keep going like they are.
TRETT: The producers are looking at possible adjustments to keep their costs and the customers' prices down.
BUCKNER: We're just kind of figuring out where we can shuffle a little bit, trying to stockpile more grass for the wintertime, you know, it may mean that we decide to put in some, something that would grow in the late fall to where we could graze it in the winter time to stretch out that hay.
HOSMAN: We really try to implement more grazing on the grass throughout the year so that we don't have to feed as much hay because it does all add up and cattle are a lot cheaper to eat grass on the ground than actually putting it up.