This is an important time of year for producers in our area. Once the crops are out of the ground it's time to apply fertilizer and get ready for next spring. But some of you wanted to know why it's so tough to get ahold of diesel fuel right now.

Mel Norhdurft had plenty of work to do Monday, and not under the hood of his tractor. He's been farming around here since 1956 and knows there won't be many nice days like this to fertilizes before the ground freezes. But it's tough to get in the field if you can't fill up the tank. "I've been farming for all these years, this is the first time I've had trouble getting diesel."

By this afternoon, Mel was able to get his hands on some diesel and fill up the tractor, but then getting ahold of anhydrous ammonia to put on the fields was a whole other issue." His supplier, across the boarder in iowa was out, but expected a shipment by late afternoon. "I didn't know there was a shortage. I didn't know anything about it until this morning when I called the supplier. He said this none here, I can't get any."

Over at Countryside Convenience, owner Paul Garber hasn't had any farm diesel since Friday. "This is how much fuel the last farmer got because the tank was empty." Paul says about a dozen farmers are waiting on his next shipment. And fuel shortage isn't just slowing farmers. "I'm delivering to, maybe not to all of them, but 3 different spots for the guys digging in the Lewis and Clark Pipeline. They called me and wanted to work this weekend. Out of fuel."

Late Monday afternoon Paul Garber told KSFY he finally got that delivery of farm diesel. Pipeline officials here in Sioux Falls tell us the diesel shortage can be traced back to slowdowns at refineries.

As for the anhydrous ammonia shortage, suppliers tell us there's a heavier than usual demand for the product right now because it's cheaper than other forms of fertilizer.