Manila Wire
Farmers' diesel cost almost doubles in 2026 Image caption, President of the Guernsey Farmers Association Michael Bray said "we're stuck in a rock and a hard place" By John Fernandez Guernsey political reporter Guernsey's farmers have warned the rising cost of diesel could force prices to increase for local milk, with negotiations opening on 2027's price later. President of the Guernsey Farmers Association Michael Bray said the price of red diesel, which is used on his farm, had jumped from 63p to £1.11 a litre since the start of 2026. It comes amid concerns about the cost of fuel from politicians, with moves to freeze tax rises on petrol and diesel being put forward as part of Policy and Resources' 2027 budget.
At most petrol stations across Guernsey the price of diesel stands at £1.99 per litre. Bray said: "At the moment we're stuck in a rock and a hard place. We've got no control on the costs, we've got no control on the income.
"At the start of 2026 we were paying around 63p a litre, I just bought some last week at £1.11, so that has a massive, massive effect on our bottom line." Bray said despite the increasing cost of diesel he wanted to keep any increase to the price of milk as low as possible for consumers. On 4 January 2026, the wholesale price of milk increased by 3.3% , in line with inflation. Inflation for 2026 is currently running in Guernsey at 4.3%.
Image caption, Michael Bray said discussions around the price of milk in 2027 starts later Guernsey's only aggregate supplier Ronez said the company used about 30,000 litres of diesel each month, so the price increases have been noticeable. Ronez's managing director Steve Roussel said: "At the moment, we're passing on some of those costs to customers through a fuel surcharge, but we are still absorbing a proportion ourselves as well." He said the current uncertainty around prices caused by conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine had meant it was difficult to plan budgets for next year. Image caption, Ronez's managing director Steve Roussel said his company had introduced a fuel surcharge because of the rising price of diesel In its budget for 2027 Policy and Resources (P&R) has recommended an increase to fuel duty of 4.3%.
However, it faces a number of potential changes, with Deputies Lee Van Katwyk and Rob Curgenven asking deputies to back a freeze in the rise to fuel duty. While Deputy Neil Inder has put forward two amendments to either freeze the duty rises on diesel or reduce it by 5p per litre. He suggested it could be paid for by a reduction in the number of civil servants employed by the States of Guernsey.
P&R Treasury Lead Charles Parkinson has said that changes to fuel duty, agreed by deputies earlier in October , would mean a 25% reduction of fuel duty moving forward, alongside the introduction of an annual motor tax. The Committee for the Environment and Infrastructure (E&I) said these changes to transport taxes would take between 12 and 18 months to implement, so the earliest these changes would come in was 2028, ahead of the introduction of a 3% goods and services tax (GST) in 2029. Follow BBC Guernsey on X , external , Facebook , external and Instagram , external .
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Source: BBC
