SHOW TIME IN TOBACCO LAND

Equipment waits on the floor for farmers at a past Southern Farm Show in Raleigh, N.C.

The Southern Farm Show will take place at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds in Raleigh, N.C., from Wednesday, February 1, through Friday, February 3. The annual meeting of the Tobacco Growers Association of N.C. will take place Friday from 10 to 1, with a lunch afterward. A list of exhibitors with displays of particular interest to tobacco growers appears below.

The new Trilogy trays will probably be available for inspection at the Show. These new plastic greenhouse trays may allow for more effective sanitation than styrofoam trays, says Tennessee Extension tobacco specialist Eric Walker. "They are also more durable, allowing producers to use them for many more years." Testing is continuing. Cost is something of an issue with the trays. 

Three years at most:  Conventional EPS trays should be used no longer than three years even if they have been sanitized each year, Walker adds.  

A machinery show in Tennessee: The Tennessee-Kentucky Tobacco Expo will take place at the Robertson County Fairgrounds in Springfield on February 7. Registration will begin at 8 a.m., and the program will continue to 2:30 p.m. There will be a sponsored lunch and a machinery show and an educational program conducted by Andy Bailey and Emily Pfeurer, both Extension tobacco specialists in Kentucky, and Walker of Tennessee. Private Pesticide Applicator Recertification Training and GAP Training sessions will be provided.  For more information, call 615-384-7936.

Rugged individualism among tobacco farmers may be about to diminish thanks to the increased level of regulation in the tobacco product market, says Will Snell, Kentucky Extension tobacco economist. Changes in the composition and types of tobacco products will require closer scrutiny by tobacco companies on how the leaf they purchase is produced, and the companies will likely exert more control over inputs and production practices, he says.

A smoke-free future? Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI)  said on Wednesday that it is building its future on smoke-free products that it considers a much better choice than cigarette smoking. "Adult smokers are looking for product choices that offer the

	PMI's new heat-not-burn product IQOS.

 satisfying taste, ritual, and pleasure they get from cigarettes, but with far lower amounts of the harmful compounds found in smoke," said Tony Snyder, PMI Vice President of Communications. "After more than 10 years of research and development, today we have both the science and the technology to make these products a reality for the world's 1.1 billion smokers." He noted that more than one million adult smokers have converted to PMI's flagship smokeless product--IQOS, a pen-like device that heats tobacco rather than burns it. We won't see any soon: PMI doesn't market its products in the United States.

DATES TO REMEMBER

• February 1-3. Southern Farm Show. N.C. State Fairgrounds, Raleigh, N.C. 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• February 3. Annual Meeting, Tobacco Growers Association of N.C., Holshouser Bldg., N.C. State Fairgrounds. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., ending with lunch (during Southern Farm Show).
• February 7, Tennessee-Kentucky Tobacco Expo, Robertson County Fairgrounds, 4635 Highway 41 North, Springfield, Tn. 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. For more information, call 615-384-7936.

THE SOUTHERN FARM SHOW

Exhibits of interest to tobacco growers listed by location on the N.C. State Fairgrounds. List courtesy of Southern Shows Inc.

Jim Graham Bldg.  

• 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 BulkTobac (Gas Fired Products). Curing equipment and controls.

Kerr Scott Bldg. 

• 1002 TriEst Ag Group (Formerly Hendrix and Dail). Fumigation supplies.
• 1107 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. Irrigation equipment.

Exposition Bldg.

• 3127 (also 8609) Benchmark Buildings & Irrigation. Transplanters and irrigation equipment.
• 3135 Southern Container Corporation of Wilson. Bale sheets and packaging.  
• 3311 Flame Engineering. Weed control with flame.
• 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

• 5108 Fairbanks Scale
• 5110 Britt Technical Services, Inc. Rotem Curing Controls.

Scott Tent

• 7025 Drexel Chemical Company. Sucker control chemicals.
• 7319 ABI Irrigation. Irrigation equipment. 

Outdoors 

• 8035 Equipmax. Tobacco spray equipment.
• 8039 Vause Equipment Co. Farm equipment.
• 8204 Wilson Manufacturing. Farm trailers
• 8217 Granville Equipment. Tobacco Machinery.
• 8221 Walters Air Assist Plant Release System. Plant release system. 
• 8301 De Cloet SRL. Tobacco machinery.
• 8546 Kelley Mfg. Co. Agricultural equipment.
• 8604 Williamson Greenhouses.
• 8701 Tytun Ltd. Bulk flue-curing barns.
• 8705 Long Tobacco Barn Co. Bulk tobacco curing barns. 

GAP TRAINING EVENTS

SOUTH CAROLINA (Flue-Cured)

• March 7, 10 a.m. Woodhaven, 1963 Highway 76, Marion  SC, across the street from Autozone. Contact J. Michael  Moore at 229-392-6424 or jmmoore@uga.edu.

VIRGINIA (Flue-Cured)

• February 15, 10 a.m. Midway Baptist Church 2595 Midway Rd., Phenix, Va. Registration at 9:30 a.m. Contact Bob Jones at rojones2@vt.edu or 434-542-5884.

NORTH CAROLINA (Flue-Cured)

• February 3, 1:30 p.m. Holshouser Bld., NC State Fair Grounds, Raleigh NC (after the TGANC Annual Meeting during Southern Farm Show). Lunch will be provided. Contact Matthew Vann at matthew_vann@ncsu.edu or 919-513-0904.

INDIANA (Burley)

• February 21, 1 p.m. Saddle Club, 710 Fairgrounds Rd., Scottsburg IN. Contact Megan Voyles at mvoyles@purdue.edu or 812-752-8450.
• February 21, 6 p.m. Switzerland County Extension Ofc., 708 West Seminary St., Vevay IN. Contact Kyle Weaver at keweaver@purdue.edu or 812-427-3152.
• February 24 1 p.m. Orange County Extension Ofc., 205 East Main St., Paoli IN. Contact Paul Vining at vining@purdue.edu or 812-723-2107.

KENTUCKY (Burley/Dark)

• January 30, 6:30 p.m. Pendleton County Extension Ofc., 45 David Pribble Dr., Falmouth KY. Contact Lindie Huffman at lindie.huffman@uky.edu or 859-654-3395.
• January 31, 5 p.m. Blewitt-Bradley Building, 309 North High St., Franklin KY. Contact Jason Phillips at jrphil0@uky.edu or 270-586-4484.
• February 2, 6 p.m. Webster Co. Extension Ofc., 1118 US Hwy 41A, South Dixon KY. Contact Vicki Shadrick at vshadric@uky.edu or 270-639-9011.
• February 7, 9 a.m. Green Co. Extension Ofc., 298 Happyville Rd., Greensburg. KY. Contact Ricky Arnett at ricky.arnett@uky.edu or 270-932-5311.
• February 9, 6 p.m. Lincoln County Extension Ofc., 104 Metker Trail, Stanford KY. Contact Will Stallard at will.stallard@uky.edu or 606-365-2459.
• February 22, 10 a.m. Pulaski County Extension Ofc., 18 Parkway Drive Somerset KY. Contact Beth Wilson at beth.wilson@uky.edu or 606-679-6361.
• February 28, 6 p.m. Allen County Extension Ofc., 200 East Main St., Scottsville KY. Contact Steve Osborne at sosborne@uky.edu or 270-237-3146.
• March 7, 6 p.m. Nicholas County Livestock Barn, 1471 Concrete Rd., Carlisle KY. Contact Clay Stamm at clay.stamm@uky.edu or 859-289-2312.
• March 9, 6 p.m. Owen County Extension Ofc., 265 Ellis Hwy, Owenton KY. Steve Musen at steve.musen@uky.edu or 502-484 5703.
• March 21, 6:30 p.m. Barren County High School Trojan Academy, 505 Trojan Trail, Glasgow KY. Contact Chris Shalk at chris.schalk@uky.edu or 270-651-3818.

TENNESSEE (Burley)

• January 30, 10 a.m. Stewart County Visitors Ctr., 117 Visitors Ctr. Lane, Dover, Tn. Start time not final. Contact Joe Griffy at jgriffy1@utk.edu or 931-232-5682.
• February 7, 8 a.m. Robertson Co. Fairgrounds Bldg., 4635 Highway 41 North, Springfield, Tn. Private Pesticide Applicator Recertification Training and GAP Training sessions will be provided. Contact Eric Walker at ewalke22 @utk.edu or 731-394-0389.
• February 20, 5 p.m. Montgomery County Extension Office, 1030 Cumberland Heights Rd., Ste. A, Clarksville, Tn. Dinner at 6:30 p.m. Contact Rusty Evans at jevans1@utk.edu or 931-648-5725.