MARK STRASSMANN:
00:00:16
In northeast Louisiana, agriculture pilot Reed Keahey flies with sticker shock. His plane needs kerosene-based jet fuel. Prices soared during the Iran war. A gallon that cost $2.46 in February peaked at $4.11 in May and now costs $3.18 and rising again. Keahey buys 7,500 gallons at a time. So at $4.11 a gallon, how much are you spending till-- A little bit over $30,000. $30,000? Yeah. It puts a squeeze, but I can't let my farmers feel that squeeze that it's putting on me. When you're flying this low, there's little margin for error. And with these fuel prices, this agriculture community feels the same way. Middle of May, we had 200,000.
MARK STRASSMANN:
00:01:04
David and Theresa Guerrero own a farming business. These corn crops need a nitrogen fertilizer called urea. Nearly half of global urea exports originate in the Persian Gulf. Prices spiked. Guerrero's fertilizer budget is shot. So total over budget of about $120,000, $130,000. Even if the Strait of Hormuz is back open, are you going to hang in there? Can you make it? It's close. It's real close.
MARK STRASSMANN:
00:01:33
Reed Keahey could charge Guerrero more to treat his crops. Instead, he's taking the hit.
REED KEAHEY:
00:01:39
Right now, it's a game of survival. Their survival is your survival. If the farmers aren't in business, then I'm not in business.
MARK STRASSMANN:
00:01:46
You feel their stress as though they're flying too close to the ground. Mark Strassmann, CBS News, Columbia, Louisiana.
