ESCANABA -- From tourism to food service, the soaring gas prices are impacting a number of industries in the Upper Peninsula, including farming.

"Fuel prices are going up this year, and that's on everybody's minds; energy is always an issue because it's a big part of cost of production," says Dennis Hanson, a potato farmer.

But the Department of Agriculture says this won't stop farmers from planting this spring.

"Farmers will keep farming on the land.  We've seen high fuel prices before and it didn't cause people to go out of business," says Keith Creagh, Director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture.

At Tuesday's Ag for Tomorrow event, farmers learned things they could do to help alleviate the prices.  For example, they need to have the right tire pressure on their machines and vehicles.

"We have to make sure we've got the right inflation pressure for the load, we've got to maximize fuel efficiency," says Rich Fotes of Firestone Tire.

And the high price for commodities may help offset the cost of fuel.  The cost of wheat and corn has gone up 100 percent, meaning farmers will be able to make more on what they produce.

"The worldwide demand is up because of droughts around the world and places like China and Russia, and they've had some short crops last year so they're looking to buy our grain to feed their people," says Jerry Grigar of the U.S.D.A.

It's still too soon to tell how deep of an impact the high cost of fuel will have.  In the meantime, all farmers can do is be as energy efficient as possible and hope those fuel prices go down.