CARRYOVER DEPRESSES PRICE AT SOME AUCTION MARKETS

Workers process flue-cured bales at the Big M Warehouse auction in Wilson, N.C. About 300,000 pounds of burley from North Carolina plus a little from Tennessee were sold at auction on December 14 at Planters Tobacco Warehouse in Asheville, N.C. But the results weren't as good as hoped. "The price range for most tobacco offered was $1.10 to $1.50 a pound," said warehouseman Billy Anders.  "The farmers were gene-rally discouraged."One likely reason for the low price was the preponderance of carryover from 2014 on the floor. Anders estimated that about 60 percent of the leaf was carryover, and it didn't find favor with buyers. More new crop burley had been expected but dry conditions over the previous 10 days made it difficult to strip leaf from the stalk and bale it. Now, substantial unsold burley remains on farms in western North Carolina, Anders says. "If there is enough interest, we may hold another sale at the end of January." For more information, call Anders at 828 777 8577. A quarter million pounds were sold at this week's sale at the Big Burley Warehouse in Lexington, Ky., says manager Darby Montgomery. The practical top was $1.73 per pound for good cherry tips, he says, while low-quality tobacco from last season brought $1 or less. His rough estimate of the average price is $1.40 a pound, with a lot selling for $1.50 to $1.60. "If you had good quality, you did all right," he says. He expects to have much more tobacco to sell after Christmas. Flue-cured auctions ended well. "Some sold as high as $1.97 a pound, and some sold for as little as 20 cents," says Mann Mullen, owner of Big M Warehouse in Wilson, N.C.  "We moved quite a bit of tobacco, and everyone seemed satisfied with the price. All tobacco received a bid, and all was sold." Some of the flue-cured brought to Big M was grown without a contract, says Mullen, but more of it was excess tobacco left over after the grower had achieved the "crop throw" requirements on his contract. "We heard time and again that once a farmer hit the crop throw, then the company didn't want any more," he says. "I am sure farmers with tobacco that fell out of crop throw were glad to have an auction." Thanks to weather, top quality just was not there. "This was a domestic crop," he says. Going against the grade: A grower who sold at the recent auction at Planter's Warehouse in Asheville says he had only 2014 carryover left to sell. It was still on the stalk, and he didn't think it feasible to pay $10 an hour or more to get a crew to work it off. Instead, he decided to strip it into one grade, which he could do himself. With the sale behind him, he thinks now he did just fine. "You can't afford to grade tobacco if you're paying $10 an hour for stripping," he says. A lesson learned: The 2015 flue-cured grown in eastern North Carolina was a dry weather crop that was hard to cure, says Peyton McDaniel of Whitakers, near Rocky Mount. In retrospect, he thinks planting earlier might have helped. "There were times when we couldn't harvest because of the weather and then we had a hard time getting our tobacco in before the rains came in September." That was particularly a problem on the organic tobacco he grows with brother Billy McDaniel and cousin Phillip  Watson. "We will start setting our organic tobacco a little earlier in 2016 so we can harvest earlier and still get it fully mature," he says. Growers to meet:  The annual meeting of the Council for Burley Tobacco will take place January 16, at the Owensboro Convention Center during the Ky. Cattlemen's trade show. The annual meeting of BTGCA will take place the day before at 1...The annual meeting of the Tobacco Growers Association of N.C. will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 on the last day of the Southern Farm Show (see next item).  Show time! The S.C. AgriBiz and Farm Expo is scheduled for January 13, and 14, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., in the Florence Civic Center. The Southern Farm Show will take place February 3, 4 and 5 at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds in Raleigh, N.C. It will end on February 5. Watch for advance coverage of both shows in January issues of Tobacco Farmer Newsletter. Winds that twisted stalks made sucker control difficult on burley in the Bluegrass, says Jerry Rankin, a farmer and auction operator in Danville, Ky. "We couldn't get in some fields with high boys to spray MH because the tobacco was so tangled." Some tobacco didn't get any MH at all, he says. UPCOMING GAP RECERTIFICATION MEETINGS NORTH CAROLINA (Flue-Cured) January 4, 9 AM Martin County Farmers Market, 4001 West Main St., Williamston, N.C. Contact Al Cochran at al_cochran@ncsu.edu/252-789-4370. January 5, 9 AM. Farmers Market, 1006 Peachtree St., Rocky Mount, N.C. Contact Art Bradley at art_bradley@ncsu.edu/252-614-7815. January 6, 9 AM. Wayne County Extension Center, 208 Chestnut St., Goldsboro, N.C. Contact Tyler Whaley at tyler_whaley@ncsu.edu/919-731-1527. January 7, 9 AM. Johnston County Extension Center, 2736 NC Hwy 210, Smithfield NC. Contact Bryant Spivey at bryant_spivey@ncsu.edu/919-989-5380. January 8, 9 AM. Wilson County Ag Center, 1806 Goldsboro St. SW, Wilson NC. Contact Norman Harrell at norman_harrell@ncsu.edu/252-237-0111. January 15, 9 AM. McSwain Extension Center, 2420 Tramway Rd., Sanford NC. Zack Taylor at zrtaylor@ncsu.edu/919-775-5624. January 19, 8:30 AM. Granville County Expo Center, 4185 US Hwy 15 South, Oxford NC. Gary Cross at gwcross@ncsu.edu/919-603-1350. January 21, 9 AM. Lenoir County Shrine Club, 1558 Hwy 70 East, Kinston NC. Contact Jacob Morgan at jacob_morgan@ncsu.edu/252-448-9621. January 22, 9 AM. Forsyth County Extension Ctr., 1450 Fairchild Rd., Winston- Salem NC. Contact Tim Hambrick at tim_hambrick@ncsu.edu/336-703-2857. January 25, 9 AM. Pitt County Extension Ctr., 403 Government Circle, Greenville NC. Contact Lance Grimes at lance_grimes@ncsu.edu/252-902-1802. January 27, 9 AM. Sampson County Ag Expo Center, 414 Warsaw Rd., Clinton NC. Contact Della King at della_king@ncsu.edu/910-592-7161. January 28, 9 AM. Commons Area, 309 W Cornelius Harnett Blvd., Lillington NC. Contact Brian Parrish at brian_parrish@ncsu.edu/910-8937530. February 5, 1 PM.  Holshouser Bldg., NC State Fair Grounds, following TGANC Annual Meeting, Raleigh NC. Contact Matthew Vann at matthew_vann@ ncsu.edu/919-513-0904. VIRGINIA (Flue-Cured) January 19, 9 AM. Southern Piedmont Center, 2375 Darvills Rd., Blackstone, VA. Contact Lindy Tucker at tucker07@vt.edu/434-696-5526. January 20, 4 PM. Meherrin River Hunt Club, 435 Dry Creek Rd., Baskerville VA. Contact Taylor Clarke at cclarke@vt.edu/ 434-738-6191. January 21, 4 PM. Olde Dominion Ag Complex, 19783 U.S Hwy 29, South Chatham VA. Contact Stephen Barts at sbarts@vt.edu/434-432-7770. January 27, 10 AM Scottsburg Volunteer Fire Department, 3050 Scottsburg Rd., Scottsburg VA. Contact Lori Puryear at lorip@vt.edu/434-476-2147. ADVERTISEMENTS FARMERS TOBACCO WAREHOUSE 209 Harding St., Danville, Ky. PH: 859-236-4932 Full-service burley warehouse Jerry Rankin, Owner   Call for information. BIG M TOBACCO WAREHOUSE  1723 Goldsboro St. SW, Wilson, N.C.,  in the old Liberty Warehouse Mann Mullen is the owner of Big M auction warehouse in Wilson, N.C. We hold sealed bid 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. A book for those with good memories of burley in Tennessee and North Carolina A perspective on mountain burley: Bill Harmon of Sugar Grove, N.C., grew burley for 51 years on the banks of the Watauga River near Boone. "It was the one crop you could just about be certain you would get rewarded on," he says. Read more about his experiences in "A History of Burley Tobacco in Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina." Enjoy the recollections of 14 current and former burley growers along with a  detailed narrative of the history of burley in America stretching back to the Jamestown Era. It will be an ideal present for anyone who recalls the "old days" in burley withaffection. For a copy, send $25 to co-author Chris Bickers at 903-9 Shellbrook Ct., Raleigh, N.C. 27609. Or phone him at 919 789 4631 (or chrisbickers@gmail.com).

A SEASON TO FORGET

Seeking a higher price: Staff members at Old Belt Tobacco auction house in Rural Hall, N.C., cajole the buyers in hopes of getting a higher price for a bale of flue-cured. Warehouse owner Dennis White (center, yellow shirt) observes. File photo. This season was one that flue-cured growers will be glad to "look at in the mirror," says Matthew Vann, N.C. Extension tobacco specialist. "We had a great greenhouse season, but it seemed nothing went well after that." He thinks 2,100 pounds an acre is probably a good estimate of the state yield. For 2016, he says the N.C. Extension tobacco team will emphasize that farmers harvest four teams and strict separation by grades. "To have a future, you want to make sure that your buyers get what they pay for," he says. The Piedmont, N.C.,flue-cured crop really took a hit from the frost in October. "We were short at this house," says Dennis White, owner of Old Belt Tobacco Sales in Rural Hall, N.C. "But we wouldn't have been short at all if it hadn't been for the frost." A lot of tobacco was still in the field at that time, he says. "And it was perfect too." Some was pulled anyway and sold for 90 cents to a dollar. A sign of just how bad this season was: One grower in the area still has about 10 acres that he thinks he can harvest if he can get a crew together, despite the frost. "He knocked the top leaves off and it looks okay," says White. "The green is definitely gone."   White may auction some burley at the Old Belt warehouse if enough growers want him to. "Some has been delivered here already, but it wasn't much and I bought it myself," he says. He has heard there may be enough interest for a one-day auction in Asheville. Predictions of a short burley crop seem to have been right on the mark. "The volume is just not there," says  Jerry Rankin, a farmer and auction operator in Danville, Ky. "At my warehouse, we sold 240,000 pounds at our first sale last week. We had another 60,000 pounds, but this tobacco had quality issues, and I suggested that they get it graded before the sale. I believe it will prove to be a wise decision but it meant we couldn't sell it then." What he did sell averaged $1.60 a pound. "We had a few crops that brought $1.65 to $1.75. This was good domestic tobacco, but not ones." The price seems likely to go up, Rankin says. "With so many farmers coming up short--maybe by 40 percent--I think what we are going to see is that the price will get higher as we go along." One of the few  reasons for optimism: An improvement in quality for burley still in the barn seems likely. "A lot of tobacco is still hanging," Rankin says. "We had two weeks of dry weather, and you couldn't get close to touching it. But now we have had fogs, and the tobacco is coming in and out of case. It will take on a darker color." Editor's Note: As best I can determine, the warehouses conducting burley auctions are as follows. If there are any others, please me know at the telephone number or email address listed above: Clay Tobacco Warehouse, Mount Sterling, Ky. Contact Roger Wilson at 859 498 6722. Big Burley Warehouse, Lexington, Ky. Contact Darby Montgomery at 859 233 9944. Farmers Tobacco Warehouse, 4540 Perryville Rd., Danville, Ky. Contact Jerry Rankin at 859 319 1400. Black shank was a big problem on flue-cured in 2015, even where a good rotation had been followed. But Vann says rotation should still be the first step in black shank control. "The conditions this season were unusual and probably won't be repeated every year." There will be no new varieties in 2016 but there will be a new chemical--Orondis from Syngenta. With the relatively new fungicide Presidio and the standard fungicide Ridomil, growers have a good fungicide package, says Vann. "Consider using all the tools available," he says. The low prices for flue-cured lead to a lousy close to the season. "Other than organic tobacco, there will be few tobacco farmers who made any money this year, with many experienced and superior growers losing substantial amounts of money," says Taylor Williams, Moore County (N.C.) Extension tobacco agent. "(It was) a year that was a perfect storm for impeding growth, yield, harvestability and quality." A yes vote on research: The North Carolina referendum to on whether to continue the checkoff for tobacco-related research and extension programs at the state university passed in November with a yes vote of 94.5 percent of the farmers participating voting yes. As a result, tobacco farmers--both flue-cured and burley--will be assessed 10 cents for every 100 pounds of tobacco sold, as in recent years. ADVERTISING FARMERS TOBACCO WAREHOUSE 209 Harding St., Danville, Ky. PH: 859-236-4932 Full-service burley warehouse Jerry Rankin, Owner   Call for information. BIG M TOBACCO WAREHOUSE  1723 Goldsboro St. SW, Wilson, N.C.,  in the old Liberty Warehouse Mann Mullen is the owner of Big M auction warehouse in Wilson, N.C. We hold sealed bid 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. A Holiday Gift for those with good memories of burley tobacco in Tennessee and North Carolina Bill Harmon of Sugar Grove, N.C., grew burley for 51 years on the banks of the Watauga River. "It was the one crop you could just about be certain you would get rewarded on," he says. Read more about his experiences in "A History of Burley Tobacco in Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina." Enjoy the recollections of 14 current and former burley growers along with a detailed narrative recounting the history of burley  stretching back to the Jamestown Era. It will be an ideal present for anyone who recalls the "old days" in burley with affection. For a copy, send $25 to co-author Chris Bickers at 903-9 Shellbrook Ct., Raleigh, N.C. 27609. Or phone him at 919 789 4631 (email chrisbickers@gmail.com).

COULD BRAZIL'S BAD WEATHER BRING SUPPLY BACK IN LINE WITH DEMAND?

Boxes of burley await shipment from storage at the Burley Stabilization Corporation headquarters in Springfield, Tn. A leaf executive suggested earlier this month that the supply situation for both burley and flue-cured may be reaching balance. (File photo) The oversupply may be disappearing. "As a result of the recent heavy rains and hail in southern Brazil from an El Nino weather pattern, we have reduced production projections for both flue-cured and burley in that country by about eight percent," said George Freeman, chief executive officer of Universal in a press release on November 5. "The same weather pattern may also affect Africa, decreasing rainfall and impacting crop sizes and quality. We believe that the combination of this weather pattern and reduced plantings in some origins will bring (leaf) markets largely into balance in fiscal year 2017." The debate over TPP drags: President Barack Obama notified Congress, also on November 5, of his intent to sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the wide-ranging trade agreement negotiated among the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim countries...and which has been controversial in the South because it specifically excludes tobacco from its conflict resolution protocols.  It must still be ratified by Congress, and tobacco state legislators pledged to oppose it. "Once we allow an entire sector to be treated unfairly in trade agreements, then the question is who's next?" said Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) His colleague Senator Richard Burr (R-N.C.), contended that it is not a free trade deal for North Carolina. "Now that we have more details about TPP, it is abundantly clear that President Obama and his allies have stacked the deck against N.C. agriculture," he said. "I  won't accept any deal that puts our farmers at a disadvantage."  Negotiations on TPP have taken seven years so far, and they are likely to take a while longer. The agreement cannot be voted on in this country until 90 days have passed since Obama's letter. That would put the ratification debate right in the middle of the presidential campaign. The other countries participating in TPP negotiations are Japan, Malaysia, Viet Nam, Singapore, New Zealand, Mexico, Australia, Peru,  Brunei, Chile and Canada. Other countries could petition to be included later. Energy tobacco goes into pilot production: Tyton BioEnergy Systems of Danville, Va., will work with only a small number of farmers to produce "energy tobacco" for 2016 but expects to deal with many more once its new extractors in Raeford, N.C., and other locations in Virginia and N.C. are  complete, says Conor Hartman, a Tyton vice president. This season, most of its farmers are in fairly close proximity to Danville where the company has a pilot extractor. Note: If you contacted Tyton after TFN's earlier story (September II 2015), your name has been entered into the company's database for possible future contracts. An automatic curing controller based on traditional curing methods is now available from Rotem Control & Management Systems. The RTDC Tobacco Barn Curing Controller allows a flue-cured grower to automatically control the temperature, humidity and moisture levels in a barn using a dry bulb,  with monitoring of all aspects of curing. For more information, contact Chad Honeycutt with Britt Technical  Service at 910 214-1301. Kentucky's new ag commissioner has a familiar name. Part of a well-known burley-growing family, Ryan Quarles was elected Kentucky agriculture commissioner in November. He had been a member of the state Senate. A native of Georgetown in the Bluegrass, he will replace Republican James Comer, who unsuccessfully ran for governor. Quarles is the son of Roger Quarles, former president of the Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association. A proponent of diversification, he noted during the campaign that his grandfather grew hemp during World War II. "I think Kentucky is well-positioned to be a leader if industrial hemp takes off, which I think it will," he said. He also is optimistic about canola and hops in the Kentucky. DATES TO REMEMBER December 3. N.C. Tobacco Day 2015. Johnston County Extension Center, 2736 N.C. Hwy. 210, Smithfield, N.C. Starting time to be announced but the meeting will end with a sponsored lunch. Editor: Chris Bickers  | Bickers Editing Service | 903-9 Shellbrook Ct. | Raleigh NC 27609  | PH: 919-789-4631  ADVERTISING FARMERS TOBACCO WAREHOUSE 209 Harding St., Danville, Ky. PH: 859-236-4932 Full-service burley warehouse Jerry Rankin, Owner   Call for information. BIG M TOBACCO WAREHOUSE  1723 Goldsboro St. SW, Wilson, N.C.,  in the old Liberty Warehouse Mann Mullen is the owner of Big M auction warehouse in Wilson, N.C. We hold sealed bid 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.

WILL THE QUALITY OF THIS BURLEY CROP BE BETTER THAN EXPECTED?

Beginning to look up: a A ground level shot looking up at burley  curing in a barn near Wilson, N.C. The yield of this year's crop is  down, but the quality looks good. The last of Kentucky's burley has been in the barn for several weeks,  and from 10 percent to perhaps 15 percent has been stripped, estimates  Bob Pearce, Kentucky Extension tobacco specialist. "The quality is better  than what we expected," he says. There had been a dry spell late in the  summer (see Tobacco Farmer Newsletter, October I 2015). "But since then,  there has been pretty good moisture, which may have helped darken the leaf,"  he says. "Now, temperatures are a little above average: We are looking at  early November temperatures in the mid Seventies (in Lexington). That should  help improve the quality of the later harvested tobacco." But nothing is going  to help the weight of this crop, which appears to be low due to the wet weather  experienced early in the growing season, Pearce adds. "We could be looking at  an average yield that is off 20 percent from recent years." The quality was good for dark fire-cured in western Kentucky and Tennessee,  but burley and dark air-cured suffered through a dry curing season, says  Andy Bailey, Extension dark tobacco specialist. Prices are good. "Unless there  is some major problem, our leaf is bringing $2.70 per pound for fire-cured, $2.40  for dark air-cured." The marketing season for Virginia fire-cured began on October 30. "That  was a little early," says Bruce Jones, the Extension agent for tobacco in  Appomattox County. "Farmers I have talked to were pleased with the prices  they received, which fell mostly in the top end of the price structure." They  were glad with the early opening too--humidity the last few weeks posed a  problem in keeping their tobacco, which they place in a cardboard box after  stripping. But this season, some stripped it, packed it again and didn't "box"  it until close to marketing. The Appomattox fire-cured was sold at a delivery  station in Oxford, N.C. Burley is grown in Appomattox County too, frequently in tandem with dark.  "Our burley has all been harvested, but most is still hanging in the barns," says  Jones. "If farmers have dark tobacco, they will work it first before they start on  the burley." This was not by any means a bumper burley crop. "But from what I have seen, the quality looks really good." There are also two organic flue-cured  growers in the county. "Both seem well pleased with their crop," Jones says. It was a tough year for black shank in many parts of the flue-cured belt, so bad  that rotation seemed to lose much of its effectiveness in limiting the disease. "Any  tobacco field that was in less than a four-year rotation was vulnerable," says  Alton Roberson of Kinston, N.C. He used chloropicrin and two applications of  Ridomil. "But they were not much help either," he says. Next year he will lengthen rotations where he can, and he also may change his soil treatment, perhaps using Presidio. If conditions are bad enough, nothing will prevent black shank, says N.C.  Extension plant pathologist Mina Mila. "But rotation will still be the best tool  over time." As Roberson found out, "The longer the rotation the better," she says.  Presidio has shown some promise in the field in its first year on tobacco in the  field, and a new fungicide, Orondis from Syngenta, may be labeled for tobacco  for next season. Orondis has received EPA approval and is expected to be available for 2016.  Its active ingredient is oxathiapiprolin, and it provides a new mode of action for  control of black shank and blue mold. Initially, Syngenta will market Orondis for  use on tobacco as multi-packs containing either: Orondis and Ridomil Gold fungicide for control of black shank or Orondis and Revus fungicide for control of blue mold. When approved by the EPA and individual states, these products will be sold  as premixes under the brand names Orondis Gold and Orondis Ultra. DATES TO REMEMBER --December 3. N.C. Tobacco Day 2015. Johnston County Extension  Center, 2736 N.C. Hwy. 210, Smithfield, N.C. Starting time to be  announced but the meeting will end with a sponsored lunch. FARMERS TOBACCO WAREHOUSE 209 Harding St., Danville, Ky. PH: 859-236-4932 Full-service burley warehouse Jerry Rankin, Owner   Call for information. BIG M TOBACCO WAREHOUSE  1723 Goldsboro St. SW, Wilson, N.C.,  in the old Liberty Warehouse Mann Mullen is the owner of Big M auction warehouse in Wilson, N.C. We hold sealed bid 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.