Higher fuel prices are hitting Rio Grande Valley farmers hard, cutting into profits as diesel costs climb.

Mike Helle, an Edinburg produce grower, says the rising prices are making it harder to stay profitable.

"Our margins are really tight, and this only makes it a little bit tougher," Helle said.

Nearly every part of farming depends on fuel. Tractors run on diesel, and crops need to be transported.

"I mean, the first thing everybody does in the morning is fill up their truck and fill up their tractor because they empty daily," Helle said.

Some tractors burn as much as 17 gallons of diesel an hour, Helle says. Even a small price increase adds up quickly.

"For diesel, if we average a dollar higher than we were pre-conflict, I mean, we're looking at $500 to $600 a day in additional costs that we have to account for," Helle said.

Dry conditions across the Valley are forcing farmers to use even more fuel just to keep crops alive.

"We're in an extreme drought down here in South Texas, so we're actually watering the most we've had in a long time," Helle said.

Helle says farmers don't have much control over how much they earn.

"Well, as a farmer, we don't get to pick our price. Our prices are stated every day... you don't get to pick a price. So when we sell our produce,  those prices are prenegotiated most of the time," Helle said.

He says challenges like this come with the job.

"Well, I mean, this is just a little hiccup in the road. I mean, there have been several things over the last, my short time here on the farm. We've had COVID, we've had freezes, we've had floods. It's just another day," Helle said.

Despite the rising costs, the work doesn't stop.

"But you do what you love and you do what you can, and all we can do is grow a product that's quality and help nurse this nation," Helle said.