A COMMON SENSE APPROACH TO THE CHILD LABOR CONTROVERSY

This picture purportedly shows a 16-year-old hired worker harvesting burley in Kentucky. It was part of a media blitz in the spring by outside organizations who wish to persuade the public that abuse of  young workers is rampant on tobacco farms.

Labor management on tobacco farms has become quite a contentious issue for the general public. Tim Yarbrough, president of the Tobacco Growers Association of N.C., at the recent N.C. Tobacco Day recommended some simple first steps, and they will yield benefits whatever the age of your workers. "We are calling on farmers to simply do the right thing. No farmer should willfully and knowingly expose any person, regardless of age, to overspray from pesticides. No farmer should deny an employee appropriate breaks and sufficient needs such as water and protective clothing. Laws or regulatory changes that will not be enforced are unnecessary in managing this child labor concern."

A landmark in American flue-cured export took place in 2013. For the first time, exports of U.S. flue-cured to China exceeded exports to the traditional leading customer, the European Union. "That was in part because exports to the EU-27 continued their downward trend, falling from 77.5 million pounds for the 2012 crop to 63.8 million pounds for the 2013 crop," said Blake Brown, N.C. Extension economist, at the N.C. Tobacco Day. Exports to China, on the other hand, continued their upward trend, increasing from 59.8 million pounds for 2012 to 73.9 million pounds for 2013. Demand from China continues to be strong, but U.S. supply has been hampered by adverse weather that has affected both quantity and quality of recent crops, Brown said. "A strengthening U.S. dollar may also impede export growth [to any destination] in the near term."

Distributor for DeCloet: Cureco company of Seven Springs, N.C., has agreed to serve as distributor for DeCloet SRL Italy. It will sell the well known DeCloet barn, which had been hard to obtain in recent years. "This brand of barn has been proven to be effective and has good longevity," says Mack Grady, president of Cureco. "It has kept abreast of the available technology." For more information, call Grady at 252-559-2630; Matthew Grady at 252-916-2952 or the Cureco office at 252-569-1714. Or email at uts4tobacco@aol.com. 

Lower-priced foreign burley is undoubtedly being bought on the market as a substitute for higher quality-premium priced burleys like ours. But Will Snell, Kentucky Extension tobacco economist, says it could have been worse. "Most of the growth [in burley production] over the past two years has occurred in Africa, which is viewed [by buyers] as a low quality, filler tobacco and thus doesn't compete directly with U.S. or South American quality, full flavor burley."

Tobacco farms keep disappearing: Slightly more than 10,000 farms grew tobacco in the U.S. in 2012, a 72 percent reduction compared to just before the buyout, according to the recent U.S. Census of Agriculture. Among its other findings, based on data collected through 2012:

• The number of farms growing tobacco in the U.S. dropped by nearly three quarters from 2002 to 2012.
• All but one state experienced a significant decline in tobacco farm numbers. That state was Pennsylvania, which experienced a 28 percent increase in the number of farms growing tobacco between 2002 and 2012.
• The number of tobacco farms in North Carolina, the largest flue-cured producing state, has declined by about two thirds since 2002.
• Flue-cured farms have become larger and more geographically concentrated with North Carolina producing a larger quantity and share of U.S. flue-cured tobacco.
• More consolidation is expected due to anticipated declining demand, technological change, regulatory action, labor challenges and deteriorating infrastructure.

Who has the most tobacco farms? The state with the largest number of farms growing tobacco is Kentucky, as it was before the buyout. It has nearly half of all U.S. tobacco farms. The top seven states in number of tobacco farms in 2012 (in descending order) were: Kentucky, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, Ohio and Georgia--the same top seven as in 2002. Pennsylvania has risen from seventh to third, thanks to the boom in burley production there.

The Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) program is being conducted once again in 2015 by GAP Connections through a series of grower meetings in the tobacco states. Tobacco Farmer Newsletter will publicize as many of the meeting dates as possible (see below). 

Who's in charge? GAP Connections is lead by a board made up of representatives of 15 buying companies and two associated groups. For 2015, the latter two are Tim Yarbrough, Prospect Hill, N.C., a flue-cured grower, and Al Pedigo, Scottsville, Ky., a burley grower. Buying company representatives are Robbie Parker, R. J. Reynolds; Jeff Griffin, AOI; Pat Raines, Burley Tobacco Growers Coop; Frank Geovannello, Altria; Bill Maksymowicz, Burley Stabilization; Chuck Neely, Gallatin Redrying & Storage; Zhanhua Liang, China Tobacco International; Linda McMurtry, Hail & Cotton; Ward Anderson, JTI; David Conner, Philip Morris International; Andy Henderson, Swisher International; Xinglin Ou, TH International Tobacco Company; Dennis Springs, United Tobacco Company; Matthew Drake, Universal Leaf, and Wayne Crawford, U.S. Tobacco Cooperative Inc.

GAP Connections leaders for 2015 are Parker of R.J. Reynolds, who will serve as chairman of the board; Jane Starnes, president, and Paul Denton, retired Tennessee Extension specialist, secretary/ treasurer. Its website can be found at www.gapconnections.com. The telephone number is 865-622-4606.

UPCOMING GAP RECERTIFICATION MEETINGS

KENTUCKY

• January 17, 8:30 a.m. Owensboro Convention Center, 501 W Second St., Owensboro, Ky. Contact Bob Pearce at 859 257 511 or rpearce@ email.uky.edu. This meeting is being held in conjunction with the 2015 Tobacco Expo.

NORTH CAROLINA (Flue-cured)anuary 6, 9:30 a.m. 

• January 6, 9:30. Wilson County Extn. Office, 1806 Goldsboro St., Wilson, N.C. Contact:  252-237-0111 or  norman_ harrell@ ncsu.edu.

• January 8. 10 a.m. Johnston County Agricultural Ctr., 2736 N.C. 210, Smithfield, N.C. Contact: 919-989-5380 or  bryant_spivey@ncsu.edu.

• January 9, 611 Gillespie Street, Dobson, N.C. Contact:  336-703-2857 or tim_hambrick@ ncsu.edu.

ADVERTISING

ADVERTISING FARMERS TOBACCO WAREHOUSE  209 Harding St., Danville, Ky. PH: 859-236-4932 Full-service burley warehouse Jerry Rankin, Owner  Opening Tuesday, November 25 at 9:30 a.m. Call for information.

An early report on burley deliveries

Wet weather followed by cold snaps caused some quality loss on burley in central Tennessee and other areas served by the Burley Stabilization Corp. George Marks (photo), president of BSC, is shown standing in front of some of the last tobacco he harvested this year, a fire-cured field that he hung on October 20. Some very good quality burley has come in so far, but overall quality is down from last year, says Daniel Green, chief executive officer at Burley Stabilization Corporation. "The top quality is better than last year, but we are seeing much more variation, even across burley coming from the same growing regions." Wet weather followed by cold snaps near the end of the curing season contributed to quality loss. But it remains to be seen how much of the crop was affected since most of the impact will be on the later tobacco. Green says there is quite a bit of houseburn, occasional "blacktails" and some green tobacco in this crop. On the bright side, the crop seems to be yielding very well for most producers. A 200-million-pound burley crop seems very unlikely to Steve Steve PrattPratt,Pratt, Pratt, general manager of Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association, Lexington, Ky. "We lost too much in the cold." The most recent USDA burley projection was 211.5 million pounds. But weather late in the season delivered a double whammy on growers: Many had to cut and hang their tobacco wet because of the rains during harvest. Then the tobacco was water-laden when the intense cold set in at the beginning of November. It froze, affecting yield and quality. "The quality was a little better than when we began receiving, but it is still decent," says Pratt... Most farmers want to know if BTGCA will take in excess pounds, says Pratt. "We do not have any plans at present to do that," he says. Auction markets have opened for the season in Kentucky, and that is a marketing option. "But I don't believe they will be able to obtain contract prices at auction." Production in the Deep South: Georgia growers, who fared relatively well with the late-season weather, averaged 2,400 pounds per acre with an average price in the range of $2.06 per pound, says J. Michael Moore, Georgia Extension tobacco specialist. Florida growers averaged perhaps 2,700 pounds per acre with an average price of about $2.07. Georgians planted about 14,000 acres, Floridians planted 1,500. Mystery black shank: The season in Georgia and Florida will be remembered for an aggressive form of black shank, which was especially intense early in the season and sometimes appeared in fields that appeared to have good rotations. Control recommendations will be developed over the winter. Dark escapes the cold: None of the dark air- and fire-cured tobacco in Kentucky and Tennessee was still in the field when the frost/freeze occurred at the beginning of November, says Andy Bailey, Extension dark tobacco specialist. "We had some very late crops, but from what I heard, the last went into the barns on October 29." This season will be remembered for very heavy rains late in the season, he says. "There was nine to 10 inches in August in some places." Bailey estimates fire-cured production at 48 to 49 million pounds, four or five percent less than the USDA projection. He pegs dark air-cured at 15 million pounds, the same as USDA's projection. Much of the increase from last year was produced in the Green River area, he says. It didn't get the torrential rain that other areas received. OUTLOOK REPORTS FLUE-CURED A very wet 2013 growing season which curbed yields, coupled with already short global supplies of flavor-style flue-cured tobacco, led to a record high average price per pound of $2.11 for the 2013 U.S. flue-cured market. Wet conditions in part of the Brazil flue-cured area limited attempts to increase production for the 2014 market, with the 2014 crop estimated at 1.344 billion pounds, down from 1.38 billion for 2013. Zimbabwean growers increased production for the 2014 market 29 percent to 474 million pounds, up from 367 million pounds for 2013. Average price per pound for the 2014 Zimbabwe crop was US $1.44, down 14 percent from US $1.67 in 2013. With increased production, prices for the 2014 U.S. crop are down and may average below $2 per pound. The October USDA Crop Report estimated production rose at an estimated 557.4 million pounds for 2014, up from 454.3 million pounds in 2013. If that forecast is correct, the 2014 crop is the biggest since 2001 when U.S. production was 579 million pounds. (Derived from a report by Blake Brown, N.C. Extension ag economist.) BURLEY Domestic burley use is being hampered by acceleration in the decline in U.S. cigarette consumption (down 5.8 percent in 2013 with similar trends so far in 2014) and the availability of cheaper foreign leaf. Accounting for both slumping exports and domestic use, it certainly appears a 2014 U.S. burley crop near or more than 200 million pounds will exceed anticipated use, leading to more critical grading and prices falling from their record high of $2.06 per pound for the 2013 crop. Demand for low quality leaf and non-contract pounds could be challenged in this marketing environment if current forecast production levels prevail. Unless the global supply/demand balance improves, look for burley contract volume reductions in 2015. (Derived from a report Will Snell, Kentucky Extension ag economist.) DARK Unlike burley, dark tobacco growers saw contract pounds remain similar and in some cases increase for 2014. Higher yields are projected to increase the U.S. dark fire-cured crop to slightly above 50 million pounds and a U.S. dark air-cured crop totaling around 15 million pounds - just slightly above last year's levels. Prices for the 2013 crop averaged a record $2.63 (compared to $2.58/lb in 2012) for dark fire- cured, while the 2013 dark air-cured crop averaged $2.35/lb (vs $2.29/lb in 2012). Look for dark tobacco prices to remain relatively strong for quality leaf. Stagnant/declining product sales may cause the industry to reevaluate additional acreage expansion in 2015. Nevertheless, the outlook for the U.S. dark tobacco growing sector remains very favorable given projected sales for smokeless tobacco products in the United States. (Derived from a report by Snell.) Editor's note: After I published an item in my second November issue hypothesizing as to why Philip Morris International (PMI) is ending its direct contracting program with farmers and arranging instead with Universal and Alliance One to acquire leaf, I got a call from a spokesman for PMI. He took issue with the fact that I suggested that "the details of complying with the GAP program may have been problematic" for the company. He insisted that PMI maintains its commitment to the GAP process, both financially and through personal involvement. I have no reason to doubt the financial part, and I have learned that the company has maintained its presence on GAP's board, which is the way you would expect a company like PMI to participate. PMI's member of the GAP board is David Conner of Virginia. So I am convinced: PMI is maintaining its commitment to GAP plans to continue to do so. More on the shifting on leaf-buying responsibilities in a future issue. UPCOMING GAP RECERTIFICATION MEETINGS NORTH CAROLINA (Flue-cured)   January 6, 9:30 a.m. Wilson County Extn. Office, 1806 Goldsboro St., Wilson, N.C. Contact:  252-237-0111 or  norman_harrell@ncsu.edu. January 8. 10 a.m. Johnston County Agricultural Ctr., 2736 N.C. 210, Smithfield, N.C. Contact: 919-989-5380 or  bryant_spivey@ncsu.edu. January 9, 7:30 a.m. 611 Gillespie St., Dobson, N.C. Contact: 336-703-2857 or tim_hambrick@ncsu.edu. January 13, 10 a.m. Martin County Farmers Market, 4001 West Main St. Williamston, N.C. Contact: 257-789-4370 or al_cochran@ncsu.edu. January 14, 10 a.m. Farmers Market, 1006 Peachtree St., Rocky Mount, N.C. Contact: 252-904-8189 or  charlie_tyson@ncsu.edu. January 15, 9 a.m. Pitt County Agricultural Center, 403 Government Circle, Ste 2, Greenville, N.C. Contact: 252-902-1802 or mitch_smith@ ncsu.edu. January 26, 10 a.m. Sampson County Agri Expo Center, 414 Warsaw Rd., Clinton, N.C. Contact: Contact: 910-592-7161 or della_king@ncsu.edu. January 27, 10 a.m. Cumberland/Harnett Mtg., 126 Alexander Dr., Lillington, N.C. Contact 910-893-7530 or brian_parrish @ncsu.edu. January 29, 9 a.m. Caswell County Mtg. 536 Main St., Yanceyville, N.C. Contact 336-570-6740 or dcdabbs@ ncsu.edu. February 6, 1 p.m. Tobacco Growers Association of N.C. Annual Meeting, N.C. State Fairgrounds, Raleigh, N.C. Contact 919-513-0904 or matthew_vann@ncsu.edu. If you haven't signed on to receive it regularly or need to change an address, you can call me at 919-789-4631 or email me at chrisbickers@gmail.com. Thanks--Chris Bickers ADVERTISING Greg Goins is the auctioneer at Big M Warehouse. BIG M TOBACCO WAREHOUSE in the old Liberty Warehouse 1723 Goldsboro St. SW, Wilson, N.C. We will hold both sealed bid auctions and live auctions.  We promise  HONEST AND TRUSTWORTHY  SERVICE We will be GAP certified  For more information, contact Mann Mullen at 919-496-9033  or the warehouse switchboard at 252-206-1447. Email: shrimpmann@embarqmail. com. FARMERS TOBACCO WAREHOUSE  209 Harding St., Danville, Ky. PH: 859-236-4932 Full-service burley warehouse Jerry Rankin, Owner  Opening Tuesday, November 25 at 9:30 a.m. Call for information.