Quality should pay in this tobacco market

Quality leaf may be the only leaf that sells well this season. “The world is awash in flue-cured, but it is poor-quality flue-cured,” said Blake Brown, N.C. Extension economist, at the U.S. Tobacco Forum in June. “The world is certainly not awash in high-quality flue-cured.” Will Snell, Kentucky Extension agricultural economist, said the situation is similar for burley. “High quality stocks are in tight supply,” he said, adding that the low quality of the 2010 U.S. burley crop, the uncertainty caused by the threat of flavoring regulations and unpredictable exchange rates all contributed to the relatively poor outlook for the burley market this year.