With most Iowans staying home and socially distant due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many residents might not be aware of the current price of gas as many have not needed to travel. The reduction in travel has slowed markets all over the world and impacted oil prices. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig tells KNIA/KRLS News the drop in travel has put Iowa’s ethanol industry in a bad spot as well. He says ethanol producers in Iowa have had to take billions of ethanol production offline which has had an impact on markets for farmers selling soybeans and corn to those producers as well as ripple effects throughout the state and country. 

Naig is advising farmers to top off fuel storage as much as possible with prices being low. Currently gas prices in Knoxville are hovering near $1.40 per gallon, but that is expected to drop even further as gas in other parts of Iowa, including Ankeny are already below one dollar per gallon. According to the American Automobile Association the national average price of a gallon of gas is currently $1.80 which is more than a dollar lower than this time last year.