BATON ROUGE — An executive order signed by Gov. Jeff Landry in response to record-high diesel prices ahead of peak harvest season has placed Louisiana under a state of emergency. 

The emergency order will allow Louisiana farmers and timber harvesters to use dyed diesel fuel they already have on hand. 

Dyed diesel is regular diesel fuel that has been dyed red to mark it as off-road fuel; the fuel is also nontaxable. Farmers and loggers buy it for tractors, skidders and irrigation pumps, and state law makes it illegal to burn it in a licensed highway vehicle. However, this order will allow that fuel to be used in highway vehicles engaged in agricultural and timber harvesting operations. 

"We’re not going to sit on the sidelines while Louisiana farmers are paying record prices to harvest the crops that feed our families and support our economy. We have an opportunity to provide immediate relief, and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” Gov. Landry said in a prepared statement.

Any penalties for dyed diesel use in highway vehicles will be suspended through Oct. 22.