Capital Press
EMPOWERING PRODUCERS OF FOOD & FIBER
Friday, May 27, 2022
Volume 95, Number 22
CapitalPress.com
$2.00
PeDaL To ThE MeTaL
MICHELLE
HENNINGS
Age: 45
Occupation: Executive
director, Washing-
ton Association of
Wheat Growers
Hometown: Ritz-
ville, Wash.
Family: Husband
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press
Michelle Hennings, executive director of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers, behind the wheel of the pickup truck she plans to
race during the women’s division pickup race as part of the Lind Combine Demolition Derby.
Washington wheat leader races at annual Lind event
Scott (“I married my
high school sweet-
heart”), daughter
Harlee, 16, and son
Hayes, 14
Hobbies: Rodeo,
coaching youth
basketball and
softball, family time
on the river
Website: https://
www.wawg.org/
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
R
ITZVILLE, Wash. — When
the Lind Combine Demoli-
tion Derby returns in June
with its truck races and
other events, Michelle Hen-
nings will be back behind
the wheel of her Ford pickup, jockeying for
the top spot.
Hennings, executive director for the
Washington Association of Wheat Grow-
ers, has raced in the derby’s “powder puff ”
women’s division fast-dash car and pickup
races since 2015.
The derby was postponed for two years
due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but
resumes June 10-11 in Lind, Wash.
This year, Hennings will compete in the
car races in addition to the pickup races,
driving a purple 1981 Ford Mustang and a
black 1977 Ford pickup, both modifi ed for
the event.
Family friend Randy Gray provides the
vehicles she drives.
He races during the derby, too, and
asked if Hennings wanted to compete.
See Race, Page 10
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press
Michelle Hennings in the driver’s seat of her special-
ly modifi ed pickup truck. She races the truck as part
of the Lind, Wash, Demolition Derby celebration.
Machinery shortages hinder sales despite strong demand
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Brayden Sechser, a farm equipment salesman, demon-
strates a tractor at the Brim Tractor dealership in Salem,
Ore.
SALEM — It’s not a great time for
farmers who are “looky-loos” to shop
for machinery, said salesman Brayden
Sechser.
Equipment is disappearing quickly
from dealership lots, and in some cases,
it’s pre-sold before even arriving, said
Sechser, who works at Brim Tractor in
Salem, Ore.
“It just moves too fast,” he said.
Brisk sales would seem like good
news for farm machinery dealers and
manufacturers, but experts say supply
shortages are preventing them from fully
capitalizing on demand.
Dan Brim, who owns Brim Tractor’s
eight dealerships in Oregon and Wash-
ington, said he simply can’t keep pop-
ular products such as compact tractors
and excavators in stock.
“We are constantly running out of the
most popular types of equipment,” Brim
said. “I believe our sales would be 30%
higher if we had a consistent fl ow of the
right products.”
That problem is widespread and
it’s refl ected in industry statistics com-
piled by the Association of Equipment
Manufacturers.
Compared to this time last year, unit
sales during the fi rst third of 2022 have
decreased roughly 14% for two-wheel-
drive tractors, 8% for four-wheel-drive
tractors and 14.5% for self-propelled
combines.
The drop in sales volume is entirely
due to supply constraints, since farm-
ers are eager to buy new machinery,
said Kip Eideberg, AEM’s senior vice
president of government and industry
relations.
“Demand is strong across all our sec-
tors,” Eideberg said. “It’s unfortunate
we can’t take advantage of the situation
because of these bottlenecks.”
There’s no immediate relief is in sight
for the supply chain problems that are
throttling farm machinery availability,
though legislation before Congress may
off er longer-term solutions.
For now, though, a recent AEM sur-
vey found that 70% of manufacturers
See Shortage, Page 10
Diesel prices mostly fl at, but up in California, Idaho
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
The U.S. Energy Information Administration
reported Monday the retail cost of on-road diesel
fell by a few pennies per gallon nationally and in
most regions in the past week, but rose again in
California, the leader in
high fuel prices.
Diesel averaged $5.57 a RELATED STORY
gallon in the U.S., down 4.2 Fuel price outlook
cents from a week ago but
Page 3
up $2.31 from a year ago.
In many regions, including
the West Coast, prices topped $6 a gallon.
California diesel cost $6.50 a gallon, up 2.5
cents in the past week and $2.45 in the past year.
In Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Arizona,
Hawaii and Nevada diesel averaged $5.60 a gal-
lon, down 1.16 cents from last week. A year ago,
diesel in the region was $2.20 less.
In Idaho and other Rocky Mountain states, die-
sel prices rose 3 cents to $5.49 a gallon, up $2.13
Don Jenkins/Capital Press
A Washington gas station posts a diesel price
slightly higher than the national average May 23.
over the previous year.
The U.S. average price fell for the second week
in a row. The biggest declines were 6 cents a gal-
lon in New England and 7 cents in the Gulf Coast.
The EIA attributed diesel prices to the high price
of oil and low stocks of diesel. Inventories were
relatively low before Russia invaded Ukraine,
which caused European countries to further draw
on already low reserves.
The diesel shortage has been particularly sharp
on the East Coast, which consumes more petro-
leum projects than it refi nes.
The region’s capacity to refi ne diesel was
reduced by 100,000 barrels a day when the Phil-
adelphia Energy Solutions refi nery closed in 2019
after an explosion, according to the EIA.
Diesel imports to East Coast ports over the pre-
vious seven weeks averaged 76,000 barrels a day,
compared to 227,000 barrels a day in 2021, the
EIA reported. East Coast diesel inventories are
47% lower than last year.
As a result, East Coast diesel prices have risen
more than other region since January, the EIA said
Monday.
West Coast and Rocky Mountain diesel inven-
tories, though down compared to a year ago, are
much closer to average reserves over the previous
fi ve years.
Unadjusted for infl ation, diesel prices are at
record levels. Diesel will have to rise to about
$6.20 a gallon nationwide to break the infl ation-ad-
justed mark set in June 2008.