WASHINGTON — High energy prices are increasing farmers' production and living expenses, adding burdens at a time when agricultural income is already coming off recent record levels.

Farm fuel costs are expected to rise at least 10% this year, with prices 113% above 2002 levels.

Energy inflation might be affecting planting decisions. A March U.S. Agriculture Department survey found farmers intend to plant 5% less corn and 7% more soybeans this year than in 2005.

One possible factor is that soybeans, which can convert nitrogen from the atmosphere, cost much less than corn to plant and fertilize. Pricey natural gas accounts for the most of the cost of producing nitrogen fertilizer.

Fertilizer could cost 10% to 15% more than in 2005, and is up 70% from 2002, according to a recent report by the University of Missouri's Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI).

Steve Wiyatt, director of the National Agricultural Statistics Service statistics division, which compiled the report, cautions it's only a snapshot of intentions. Actual plantings won't be known until June.

Not all growers have a lot of options for altering their crop mix, including Dale Schuler, a wheat farmer from Carter, Mont.

Schuler's fuel costs rose to $59,000 in 2005 from $35,000 the previous year. He's cut back by using less intensive-planting methods and applying fertilizer more sparingly. Still, he faces tens of thousands of dollars in higher freight bills from railroads and other transportation companies.

“The reason these fuel and fertilizer and other energy-related expenses have impacted our industry so much is that … we have no way of passing them on,” says Schuler, president of the National Association of Wheat Growers. “We get what the market gives us.”

High energy prices have an upside for growers in the form of increased demand for ethanol and biofuels. But Lori Wilcox, market and policy analyst for the University of Missouri's FAPRI, says big benefits are down the road, while crop prices could be lower this fall than in the past several years.

“The increases that we've seen in the (energy) prices have been more dramatic for a longer period of time than we've seen any time since the '70s,” says Wilcox.

Farmers, like Corporate America, have become more energy efficient. The logistics of living in isolated, rural areas, however, limit the ability of families to cut back.

Rural residents drive 17% more miles a year than urban residents, according to Agriculture Department officials. They're also more likely to drive heavier trucks with lower fuel mileage ratings.

“It's going to require some belt-tightening, no doubt about it,” says Terry Francl, American Farm Bureau Federation senior economist.

At this point, the Grocery Manufacturers Association doesn't expect energy inflation to translate into big food inflation. The group represents such companies as Cargill, Kellogg and General Mills.

Food prices rose 2.6% from March '05 to March '06, according to the Labor Department, while the consumer inflation rate was 3.4%.