Franca Tantillo puts rising fuel prices in the same category as the springtime hail storm that wiped out part of her strawberry crop. Both cut into the profit she can make at the farmers markets she sells at in New York City, about 135 miles south of her farm.

Like Tantillo, market farmers nationwide face exponentially rising costs for fuel, fertilizer and animal feed that could force them to hike prices that are already often higher than grocery stores.