San Diego County farmers say soaring diesel prices and other rising expenses are putting increasing pressure on their operations, with one Oceanside farmer warning that his family’s century-old farm could be at risk.

Diesel prices in San Diego stand at $8.23 a gallon. That’s a few cents below last week’s record $8.27, but it’s $3.19 higher than a year ago, when the average cost of a gallon of diesel was $5.04. It’s a significant increase for farmers who rely on diesel to operate tractors and transport products to market.

It’s affecting Neil Nagata, a third-generation farmer at Nagata Bros Farms, Inc. in Oceanside, which grows strawberries, blueberries, cherimoyas and vegetables.

“We’ve been farming for over a hundred years. My grandfather started farming in 1920,” Nagata said.

For more than a century, the farm has survived economic ups and downs. But now, the farm is facing mounting financial pressure.

“If things don’t balance out, then we won’t be here after 100 years of farming,” Nagata said.

Diesel prices are up nearly 65% from this time last year, with the war in Iran is contributing to higher fuel costs.

“Just that type of price increase is really a hard thing to swallow. You have to pay up front. You can’t wait until your crop comes,” Nagata said. “It is an extremely additional burden to farmers even getting our product to market or just using our tractors in the field.”

Nagata said the war is also affecting fertilizer. A significant amount of the world’s fertilizer supplies go through the Strait of Hormuz, and Nagata expects both prices and availability to become concerns.

“We’re expecting fertilizer prices to also increase about 33%. And availability is really going to be the concern,” Nagata said. “Are we actually going to be able to get the fertilizer we need?”

Farmers are also dealing with rising borrowing costs.

“Just actually being able to come up with the funds to continue to farm is very difficult,” Nagata said. “And looking at borrowing money to continue the farming that we’re doing is, especially as the interest rates go up, gets to be more and more concerning.”

Nagata said California farmers face some of the highest water prices in the nation, along with rising labor costs. He also said strict regulations can make it difficult for California farms to compete with products grown elsewhere.

“If a product is coming up from Mexico or from someplace else, we’re competing directly against that product,” Nagata said.

As those expenses rise, Nagata said farmers cannot necessarily raise their prices because they are price takers, meaning they must accept prevailing prices set by global supply and demand rather than setting their own prices.

The financial pressures have left Nagata wondering whether his family farm will survive for another generation.

“We can take some of the burden, but if it’s just added so quickly, it’s very hard to absorb,” Nagata said.

“So we’re still optimistic as far as trying to keep everything together and moving forward. But we definitely could use some relief very soon,” Nagata said.

Nagata is encouraging the public to support San Diego County agriculture by buying local products.

This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC San Diego. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC San Diego journalist edited the article for publication.