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| An auction at the Old Belt Tobacco Sales warehouse in Rural Hall, N.C., last fall. |
After capturing a small but significant portion of 2012 tobacco sales, auction houses are coming back this season with a goal of getting more for their farmers' leaf. Tobacco Farmer Newsletter spoke to the principals at all the auction houses that could be located and asked about plans for the coming year. Contact information for each warehouse follows.
Note: I would be glad to know if any other warehouses are planning auctions for 2013. Call me at 919-789-4631.
-There will be two auctions in Wilson, N.C. The Big M Warehouse, located in the old Liberty Warehouse, will offer both sealed bid and live auctions. "It will be the farmer's option which way he wants to sell," says Mann Mullen, owner of Big M. "We haven't worked it out yet. We may have live auctions in the morning and sealed bid in the afternoon. Or we might do the different types on different days. When the tobacco is delivered, the farmer can specify how he wants to sell it." Last season, when the sales were 100 percent sealed bid, Big M sold 3.5 million pounds. "We hope to exceed that this year," Mullen says.
--At the American Tobacco Exchange, which occupies the old Growers Warehouse facing Hwy. 301 in Wilson, Randy Brandon and Todd Adams will conduct auction sales there this season. But at press time, they hadn't decided between a sealed bid or a live auction. TFN will keep you posted.
--In Danville, Va., the owners of Piedmont Warehouse converted from sealed bid auctions to live auctions last season, with good results. "The live auction was popular last year," says Jim Eggleston, sales manager. "The farmers liked it better that way, and I did too." It will be all "live" this year, and Eggleston hopes to double sales. Most will be flue-cured. "But we sold some burley last year, maybe five percent of our volume. It was all from non-traditional growers in this area, but I would be glad to sell burley from the traditional areas."
--In Rural Hall, N.C., near Winston-Salem, Dennis White says he has sold some non-traditional burley at his primarily flue-cured live auction, Old Belt Tobacco Sales. He may sell more this year, perhaps partly from traditional burley areas. "I have gotten calls from places like Asheville, N.C., Boone, N.C., and Mountain City, Tn.," he says. The auction has been very popular with flue-cured growers in the Piedmont. "Some farmers are planting more than their contracted amount with the idea of selling the overage at auction. And there are two or three farmers who plan to sell their whole crop with me."
--In Danville, Ky., Jerry Rankin, owner of the Farmers Tobacco Warehouse, expects to sell at least five million pounds at his warehouse, he says. "That may prove a conservative figure." Still, he is concerned that this may be a short burley crop relative to what buyers could use. "I don't think we are going to have enough tobacco from this crop," he says. "We could sell 20 percent more than what we expect will be grown and still not fill all the demand."
--In Lexington, Ky., live auctions are tentatively set to begin the first two days of November at the Big Burley Warehouse, says manager Darby Montgomery.
Getting in touch with auction warehouses
Big M Tobacco Warehouse, 1723 Goldsboro Street SW, Wilson, N.C. Contact Mann Mullen at 919-496-9033 or at
Big Burley Warehouse, 573 Angliana Ave., Lexington, Ky., 40508. Contact Darby Montgomery at his cell number, 859-339-3922 or at his office at 859-233-9944.
Kentucky King Warehouse, Maysville, Ky. Live auctions were conducted here in 2012 and might be again this year if there is enough interest. If you're interested, contact Eldon Ginn at 606-782-2477. His office switchboard number is 606-564-4242.
Clay's Tobacco Warehouse, 949 Camargo Rd., Mount Sterling, Ky. I have been unable to reach the owner, Roger Wilson, to confirm this, but I have been told by two reliable sources that he is considering conducting an auction this year. The number I was given was 859-498-6722, although I have had no luck getting an answer.
In other tobacco news:
New flue-curing barns roll off the line. Bob Pope of Long Tobacco Barn Company LLC tells TFN that its barn line is running at full capacity and turning out an average of three barns per day. The company is now working to fill orders for barns for delivery prior to commencement of the 2013 curing season. Long is also now taking orders for its third 2013 production run for barns to be delivered in late July and August, prior to the crop letting loose in the field. "Though design improvements we made in our newest model took us longer to refine than we anticipated, our customers have been patient," Pope says. "They report they are well satisfied with their new barns and are looking forward to using them this coming season."
A report from the Bluegrass: A TFN source who grows burley on a large scale south of Lexington, Ky., says that he started transplanting on May 20. "Now, we are a little behind where we normally are, maybe a week to 10 days," he says. "The cold temperatures have slowed plant development, but it doesn't take the crop long to catch up if conditions are right." The change in crop insurance rotation requirements has led to some land leaving tobacco in his area. Farmers here frequently grow burley three consecutive years, then put it in grass for six or seven years, but federal crop insurance will no longer insure land planted a third year in tobacco. Some farmers are choosing to plant something else.
Speaking of crop insurance, earlier this month, the Senate considered eliminating subsidies for federal crop insurance for tobacco farmers, But the amendment was turned back by a vote of 52 to 44 on May 23. Kentucky State Senator Paul Hornback, a tobacco farmer himself, told the Associated Press that tobacco would have survived if the insurance program had ended. "But you would have seen the face of tobacco growing change very drastically once again."
DATES TO REMEMBER
- June 10-12 Georgia-Florida Tobacco Tour starts with a kick-off supper at Mixon's Pond House in Waresboro, Ga., at 7 p.m. Monday and ends at Lake City, Fla., Wednesday. Contact: J. Michael Moore at 229-386-3006 or jmmoore@uga.edu.
- July 23. South Carolina Tobacco Tour starts at Tobacco Facility at the Pee Dee Research and Education Center in Florence and ends out in the field in midafternoon. Contact: Dewitt Gooden at 843-662-3526 or at dgooden@clemson.edu.
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