Blue mold breaks out in Pennsylvania

Blue mold was found this week in two greenhouses near Oxford, Pa., not far from Lancaster. The plants from one were destroyed, but not those from the other, which showed fewer lesions but were nevertheless infected. “The farmer took a chance, which is not what we want to see with this disease. But the air movement around these little plants is good, and we can hope the blue mold will dry up,” says Jeff Graybill, Pennsylvania Extension Educator. There's no reason to think the disease has gone systemic on these plants, he adds. The disease appears to have overwintered in the houses.

Editor's note: In the past, Tobacco Farmer Newsletter would refer you to the “Tobacco Blue Mold Forecast Webpage” at http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/pp/ bluemold for a forecast on where blue mold might be going and what to do about it. Unfortunately, the forecast aspect has been canceled, at least for this year, due to lack of funding, though a frequently updated blue mold map will be maintained, so you can still see where outbreaks have occurred. 

A bigger burley crop in the offing

Burley plantings are clearly up, and Will Snell is a little surprised. That's because prices for feedgrains and beef are fairly high, and the Kentucky Extension ag economist says he would have thought they would have soaked up any expansion. Although there will definitely be more burley, Snell is not sure yet if the USDA projection of four percent in Kentucky will prove close to accurate.

Thanks to the weather, plants grew quickly in burley greenhouses in the mountain burley area of Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina. David Miller of Abingdon, Va., who sells plants from two 30 x 96-foot greenhouses and also produces plants for his own seven acres of burley, says the plant crop in the area was at least a week earlier than normal. The first plants from Miller's houses were set May 5, and transplanting got going in earnest midway of the next week.

What's the most important practice in producing greenhouse transplants? Frequent inspection, says Miller. “You've got to practically live with them,” he says.“We inspect ours five to 10 times a day.”

A PLANTING REPORT FOR 2012

Burley: Transplanting was getting under way in Kentucky and Tennessee as May began,  says Paul  Denton,  Kentucky - Tennessee Extension specialist. "It's going well, but we could use some rain. I would hate for the crop to get behind this early." There was a little more spiral root in the greenhouse than normal because of heat early in the season. "But we should have enough transplants to go around," he says. Among varieties, KT 206 and KT 209 are very popular, "and we still see a lot of KY 14 x L8 on farms that don't have race one black shank." There is also some KT 210 and some TN 90, he says...In southeastern Virginia, burley plants are almost ready to set, says Danny Peek, Virginia Extension burley specialist. "They are little earlier than normal. It was warm and they grew quickly. A few farmers may have started transplanting this week. More will start next week. We should be okay as long as it doesn't turn off wet. We might be looking at a lot of clipping if transplanting is held up." The outlook for mountain burley seems pretty good now. "Every grower who wanted a contract got one. The demand for what we grow here is pretty good." But in the non-traditional burley areas of Virginia--almost all of which are in the flue-cured growing Southside--will probably plant no more acres than last year, and maybe a little less, Peek says...The closing of the Altria station in Midway (near Greeneville, Tn.) hasn't seriously disrupted plantings in east Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia. Peek reports that R.J. Reynolds took up some of the slack left by the Altria closing and Burley Stabilization took up some also. A few growers were willing to take the long trip to deliver at the Altria station in Danville, Ky., and stayed with the company, says Peek. Despite the Altria station closing, it looks as if demand may be seeing toward leaf from this area. "There has been a shift in preference among cigarette manufacturers in favor of the Appalachian style of leaf," says Denton.  Flue-cured: Transplanting is well over half finished in North Carolina, says Loren Fisher, N.C. Extension tobacco specialist. "We could use some warmer temperatures,   but  for  the   weather  we  have  had,  we  are doing reasonably well."  He expected about 75 percent of the flue would be planted by the end of the weekend. He is not ready to estimate flue-cured acreage in N.C. but doesn't think it will be  down six percent, as the U.S. Department of Agriculture projected at the end of March. "If it is down, it isn't down much," he says. "I expect we will be close to last year's plantings"... Virginia growers have a way to go, but plantings are complete in Florida and Georgia... Transplanting will probably be complete in South Carolina by the time you read this, says Dewitt Gooden, S.C. Extension tobacco specialist. The season was been largely problem-free so far in S.C. "There was a threat of frost in places, but I don't think there was any damage. A few farmers had some wind damage but that was about it. At the station in Florence, our tobacco is about 2 ½ weeks along, and we just side-dressed this week. A lot of our farmers are farther along that that." The supply of plants available for S.C. growers was tight but Gooden says the thinks everyone was able to get what they needed. He knew of only one grower who was seriously short of plants at setting, and he was able to find plants elsewhere. "I think we were able to plant all we wanted to plant," he says.  In other news...       No news on USGD: A spokesperson for U. S. Growers Direct wrote on April 24 stating the company's intention to "have a press conference in approximately a week" and that it is "in the process of finalizing and working out final details for the 2012 Tobacco Season." I have not heard from anyone at USGD since then and indeed have nothing new to report except that reliable sources have told me that the father-son leaf-dealing team of Bill and Jay Barker now are involved in the company. I don't know exactly they are doing. Bill Barker has a long career in leaf marketing at the management level, while Jay Barker was most recently the principal in J.E.B International, one of the parties to the joint venture to procure U.S. leaf for JTI. As I learn more I will share it. Another monitor for your farm? Reynolds American Inc. has told groups representing migrant farm workers that it will use an indepen-dent, third-party monitor to assess working conditions on farms it contracts with. RAI also proposed formation of a council that would involve manufacturers, growers, the N.C. Labor Department, gricul-tural scientists, and farm workers, among others. "Formation of such a council...might well make a significant contribution to the improvement of worker safety and living conditions," said Daniel Delen, RAI chief executive. Delen seems anxious to find some method of conciliation to resolve this troublesome public relations issue, but public comments from opposing parties make progress seem unlikely. One of them, Minor Sinclair of Oxfam America, claimed the tobacco industry "systematically exploits farm workers' fears of arrest and deportation to deprive them of their basic, nternationally recognized human rights." You can read an earlier postition statement on this subject on RJ Reynolds' website at www.rjrt.com under "More Key Issues." Getting out because of GAP? Nearly 70 percent of county Extension tobacco agents who participated in a survey conducted by the Center for Tobacco Grower Research [CTGR] thought before the season that some growers in their county would exit tobacco production due to GAP requirements. "On average, the agents estimate 9 percent of growers will exit, representing 41 percent of acreage in the survey," says CTGR. For more information, go to the website http://tobaccogrowerresearch.com and click on "Survey Snapshot."

ADVERTISING

When growers used "light weight" sheets in 2011, the results were frequently loss of revenue This season, don't buy inferior slip sheets for your crop! Call Zebac Packaging, Inc. the slip sheet experts at 919-210-1411 or email jimbowen@zebacpkg.com See website at zebacpkg.com We will provide the Tare weight that's best for you. And we have some of the best prices in the market. We would like to discuss with you your plans for the 2012 season. Call us to arrange a meeting, and we will be glad to show you our product and answer your questions. You will be consulting with the leading source of information on slip sheet technology. Over the course of his career, Jim Bowen, President of Zebac Packaging, Inc., has: Consulted with NCSU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Professor Dr. Mike Boyette to design the original slip sheet which was introduced to the market in 1998. Assisted in instituting the policy of printing all slip sheets with a number indicating the "Tare Weight". Consulted with NCDA Consumer Division to draft language for VT-1 document. Modified the slip sheet design several times to increase performance and efficiency. Worked with slip sheet manufacturers on "cost avoidance" measures to benefit tobacco growers. Go with the leader. Buy your slipsheets at Zebac Packaging.

U.S. Growers Direct plans a press conference soon

I received the following letter--slightly shortened--this morning from a spokesperson for  U. S. Growers Direct. I will keep you informed of developments as they take place:

I am contacting you on the behalf of U. S. Growers Direct to inform you that it is our intention to have a press conference in approximately a week. We will contact you in advance to this meeting with the press. U.S. Growers Direct is in the process of finalizing and working out final details for the 2012 Tobacco Season.
 

Nakisha Fox

Executive Assistant

U. S. Growers Direct

 

Can U.S. Growers Direct make a comeback?

You don't expect leaf companies to rise from the grave, but it looks like one is doing it, or at least trying to. As of Friday, U.S. Growers Direct, the company that launched an abortive attempt to contract 100 million pounds last season, was taking the last corporate steps needed to offer current-crop contracts to flue-cured farmers. It is expected to complete this process in a matter or days and has already begun discussions with interested growers with the hope of signing contracts soon. No matter how soon, it is obviously going to be very late to contract tobacco for 2012. But USGD vice president Jimmy Lee told me Friday he is confident the company will be able to acquire enough leaf to have an impact on the market this season. One wonders where. Transplanting is just beginning in Southside Virginia and that area might be the best possibility. But Extension specialist David Reed says there will be no great surplus of plants left once the crop currently committed is planted. At the other end of the flue-cured belt, transplanting in Florida and Georgia is substantially complete. It might be agronomically possible to grow a crop there this late, but Extension specialist J. Michael Moore says that in the current economic climate, he is very dubious that anyone would want to try. The experienced leaf man Bill Barker of Virginia will operate the buying stations on a day-to-day basis USGD through his company USA Leaf. Farmers will have more contact with USAL than USGD, I am told. Other developments:

• The company's efforts will be more limited than last year. It will operate only two delivery points--Louisburg, N.C., and Douglas, Ga.--instead of the six of 2011.  The company is not exactly a leaf dealer but will definitely be oriented to foreign markets.
• Its primary target market will still be China. That explains why only flue-cured is being contracted: Chinese consumers almost exclusively smoke 100-percent flue-cured cigarettes.

The question to be asked is: Can any state accommodate a substantially larger planted acreage this late in the game?Because Georgia farmers responded so vigorously to USGD contract offers last year, they might seem like good candidates. But setting of the previously contracted crop ended this past weekend, except for a few stragglers, and there are very few plants remaining. "I expect we will plant all the plants we have and then we will be finished," he says. Florida is well past transplanting. The crop is up now and looks very good, says Moore. At the northern end of flue-cured production, transplanting in Virginia, has begun on just a few flue-cured farms. Reed expects transplanting to get going in earnest Monday. Despite quite a few diseases in the greenhouses, Virginia plants were satisfactory in quality, he says, but the supply is tight.

Correction

The projection below for flue-cured production for the crop now being marketed in Brazil should be 1.3 billion pounds rather than million.

Brazilian tobacco crop headed for a major bust?

A leaf dealer with significant involvement in Brazilian tobacco trade thinks the flue-cured crop produced in 2011 and now being marketed will be only about 1.3 million pounds, although that figure is fluid and the actual volume may turn out 15 percent higher or lower. The burley crop is roughly projected at 150 million to 175 million pounds, he says. "Both crops are very high in nicotine, which reflects bad weather in the field," he says. "Curing conditions weren't good either and there was considerable quick-cured burley leaf." This certainly presents a marketing opportunity for U.S. growers, since there will a decided shortage of premium Brazilian leaf of both types. Another leaf dealer said the flue-cured in Brazil is useable at best. "Some of the burley crop might not be marketable at all." Marketing of both types is running behind and will continue for some time.