A COMMITMENT TO QUALITY IS THE KEY FOR 2016

Plant production season coming up: A newly seeded greenhouse from a past season. Three or four is better than one or two when it comes to harvesting. Some N.C. flue-cured growers were forced to cut reduce their number of harvests the last two seasons because of black shank or Granville wilt pressure. Vann urges three or four harvests this year if at all possible. "A once- or twice-over crop is not going to sell very well in the current leaf market," he says. "And non-tobacco material is also going to be a problem." He says an emphasis on quality is going to be N.C. Extension's focus in winter education programs. A way to avoid tray washing: David Sanderson, farm manager, WF Partnership, Newton Grove, N.C., experimented with 600 Trilogy plastic float trays in 2015 and will do so again this season. The black trays offer one definite advantage over styrofoam trays, he says. They are much  easier to clean, and you don't have to steam them. "It cost me about 25 cents each to steam clean our styrofoam trays, so there is a definite savings," he says. The performance of the Trilogy trays is quite satisfactory. "They wick very well, better than our styrofoam trays, and the quality of the plants is equal," says Sanderson. Matthew Vann, N.C. Extension tobacco specialist, says Trilogy trays could offer some benefits. "Plastic trays should be easier to sterilize than styrofoam trays, and there is a longevity issue. It has been predicted that the black trays will last 10 to 15 years, possibly 20 years, which is much longer than styrofoam trays." There may sometimes be wicking issues with styrofoam trays but they occur mainly when they are brand new, he adds. For more information on Trilogy trays, call Ray DeBruhl at 919 610 7896. Or visit www.PlasticFloatTray.com. Steam it yourself: Long Tobacco Barns has developed a system to sanitize greenhouse float trays. Called the Steaming Eagle, you can see it in operation at an open house Friday, January 15, from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. at Long's manufacturing facility in Tarboro, N.C.  The location is  manufacturing facility located at 401 W Hope Lodge St. For more information, call 252 641 4796. In search of a plant pathologist: The position of N.C. Extension plant pathologist with responsibility for tobacco is currently open. The new pathologist will divide his/her time between tobacco and other row crops that have not yet been identified but may well include cotton and corn. Mina Mila, who  held the position for a number of year, is still on the NCSU staff as a teacher and researcher. A vote on export promotion: Flue-cured growers in the Carolinas will vote on January 27 whether to continue their support of Tobacco Associates, the organization that uses grower check offs to fund export promotion and expansion programs. It must be revalidated in North and South Carolina in a referendum every three years. The check-off amount in N.C. is one fifth of one cent per pound, or 20 cents per 100 pounds. The S.C. amount is higher: one half cent per pound or 50 cents per 100 pounds. But board members have pledged not to actually collect more than 20 cents. The referendum will be conducted at county Extension offices. Allen Wooten of Burgaw, N.C., the farmer chairman of Tobacco Associates, urges growers to vote yes. "With domestic consumption declining, we depend on exports to hold our market where it is today," he says. And there have been successes. "We have had a very active program with Vietnamese companies since trade relations were normalized in 1996. Sales were zero then--now they are up to 500 tons a year." The Southern Farm Show begins Wednesday, February 3, and ends on the following Friday. It will be held at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds in Raleigh, N.C. Entrance free. The annual meeting of the Tobacco Growers Association of N.C. will take place Friday from 10 to 1. Following is a list of tobacco-oriented exhibitors appears below. Note: This list may not be complete. Additions are welcome and will appear in the next issue. Submit via chrisbickers@gmail.com. Jim Graham Bldg.   221 Taylor Mfg. Curing barns, wood furnaces. 222 Evans Mactavish Agricraft. 227 Kelley Mfg. Co. Agricultural equipment. 704 (also 8131) Agri Supply. Agricultural materials. 807 Mechanical Transplanter Co. Transplanters, seeding equipment. 808-9 BulkTobac (Gas Fired Products). Curing equipment and controls, poultry brooders, pig heating, space heaters. Kerr Scott Bldg.  1002 TriEst Ag Group (Formerly Hendrix and Dail). Fumigation supplies. 1005 Flue Cured Tobacco Services. Curing controls. 1015 Yara North America. Fertility products. 1104 GoldLeaf Seed Co. Tobacco seed. 1114 Transplant Systems. Greenhouse systems.   1116 Cross Creek Seed. Tobacco seed. 1121 AAA Scale Co. 1201 Carolina Greenhouse & Soil Company. 1202 Reddick Equipment Company Inc. 1302 Mid-Atlantic Irrigation. Exposition Bldg. 3127 (also 8611) Benchmark Buildings & Irrigation Inc. Pre-fabricated metal buildings, transplanters and irrigation equipment. 3135 Southern Container Corporation of Wilson. Bale sheets and packaging.   3522 First Products Inc. Fertilizer boxes for cultivators and tool bars. 3605 MarCo Mfg. Tobacco machinery. 3714 (also 8615) Cureco, Inc. Curing controls. Tent 1 5007 ABI Irrigation. Irrigation equipment. 5023 Walters Air Assist Plant Release System. Plant release system. 5110 Britt Technical Services, Inc. Rotem Curing Controls. Scott Tent 7025 Drexel Chemical Company. Sucker control chemicals. 7323 Berger. Plant growing mixtures. 7327 Teeterville Garage & Weighing Systems. Moisture controllers for tobacco barns and weighing scales. Outdoors   8035 Equipmax. Tobacco spray equipment. 8122 Carolina Tobacco Services. Curing barns, mechanical harvesters, heat exchangers.   8204 Wilson Manufacturing. Farm trailers 8217 Granville Equipment. Tobacco Machinery. 8301 World Tobacco. Bulk fertilizer handling equipment. Curing barns. 8323 De Cloet SRL. Tobacco machinery. 8546 Kelley Mfg. Co. Agricultural equipment. 8604 First Products Inc. Fertilizer boxes for cultivators and tool bars. 8705 Evencure Systems. Curing controls.  8701 Tytun Ltd. Bulk flue-curing barns. 8712 Long Tobacco Barn Co. Bulk tobacco curing barns.  UPCOMING GAP RECERTIFICATION MEETINGS TENNESSEE All beginning times are EST except as noted. February 2, 9 AM. Robertson County Fairgrounds Bldg., 4635 Hwy. 41 North, Springfield, in conjunction with the Tobacco Expo. Contact Paul Hart atpehart@utk.edu or 615-384-7936. February 8, 4 PM. Montgomery Co. Ext. Office, 1030 Cumberland Heights Road, Ste. A, Clarksville.  Contact Rusty Evans at jevans1@utk.edu or 931-648-5725. February 9, 9:30 AM. Stewart County Visitors Center, 117 Visitors Center Lane, Dover, Tn. Contact Joe Griffy at jgriffy1@utk.edu or 931-232-5682.  February 9, 6 PM. Farm Bureau Ofc., 1012 N Broad St., Tazewell. Contact MattMcGinnis at mcginnn9@utk.edu/423-626-3742. February 15, 11 AM (CST). Smith County Ag Ct., 159 Ag Center Lane, Carthage. Contact Chris Hicks at cbhicks@utk.edu/615-735-2900. February 15, 6 PM (CST). Trousdale County High School, 262 West McMurry Blvd., Hartsville. Location: Trousdale County Ag Pavillion (behind school). Contact Jason Evitts at jevitts@utk.edu/615-2421. February 16 9:30 AM (CST). Lawrence County Extension Ofc., 2385 Buffalo Rd., Lawrenceburg. Contact Wendell Smith at wdsmith@utk.edu/931-762-5506. February 16, 6:30 PM (CST). Dickson County Extension Ofc., 204 Henslee Dr., Dickson. Contact Vicki Witcher at vwitcher@utk.edu/615-446-2788. February 22, 6 PM (CST). Sandy Wells Bld., Macon County Fairgrounds, 1200 Russell Dr., Lafayette. Contact Keith Allen at kallen@utk.edu/615-666-3341. February 29, 6 PM. Holston Electric Cooperative Auditorium, 1200 West Main St., Rogersville. Contact Blake Ramsey at blake.ramsey@utk.edu/423-272-7241. March 1, 6:30 PM. McMinn County Extension Ofc., 107 West College St., Athens. Contact Tim Woods at hwoods1@utk.edu/423-745-2852. March 2, 6:30 PM. Greene County Extension Ofc., 204 North Cutler St., Suite 105, Greeneville. Contact Melody Rose at mteague@utk.edu/423-798-1710. March 8, 9:30 AM (CST). Rutherford County Extension Ofc., 315 John R. Rice Blvd., Room B, Murfreesboro. Contact Mitchell Mote at mmote1@utk.edu/615-898-7710. March 15, 6:30 PM (CST). Pickett County Agricultural Learning Ctr., 150 Skyline Dr., Byrdstown. Contact Billy Garrett at bgarret4@utk.edu/931-864-3310. March 22, 6:30 PM. Appalachian Fairgrounds, Bldg. 1 Lakeview Street, Johnson City. Contact Anthony Shelton at ashelton@utk.edu/423-753-1680. March 24, 6 PM. Ag Pavilion, 280 Bryan Rd., Rutledge. Contact: Anthony Carver at 865-828-3411/rbcarver4@utk.edu.