THE SOUTHERN FARM SHOW RETURNS TO RALEIGH

Here is the January III issue of Tobacco Farmer Newsletter. If you haven't signed on to receive the newsletter regularly or if you need to change an address, please click on "Join our mailing list" and follow the prompts. For more information, you can call me at 919-789-4631 or email me at cebickers@aol.com.

Farm machinery on the floor of Dorton Arena at the N.C. State Fairgrounds at last year's Southern Farm Show. (Photo credit: Chris Bickers)

The Southern Farm Show starts Wednesday, January 30, and runs through Friday at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds in Raleigh. Gates open at 9 a.m. and close at 4 p.m. Admission is free and there is no charge for parking. There will be some new exhibitors, including the Spapperi company of Italy, which will have setters on display and may also demonstrate one of its flue-cured mechanical harvesters. Booth 9004. For more information about the Show, go to https://southernshows.com.  See list of tobacco-related exhibitors below. Growers meet: The annual meeting of the Tobacco Growers Association will take place at the show on Friday, February 1. It starts at 10 a.m. in the HolshouserBuilding and ends at lunch. GAP training will be available afterward. Finally, hemp legalized! The 2018 Farm Bill has opened the way for southern farmers to get into industrial hemp production, once the individual states submit plans to regulate production of the crop. Kentucky leads the way. Kentucky has already applied to USDA to approve its hemp program, and is the first state in the nation to do so, thanks to the commitment of Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles. "Kentucky's regulatory framework perfectly aligns with the requirements spelled out in the [new] farm bill," Commissioner Quarles said. "Now we are eager to take the next step toward solidifying Kentucky's position as the epicenter of industrial hemp production and processing in the United States." More than 1,000 Kentucky farmers have applied to participate in the program in 2019. In 2018, farmers in the program grew more than 6,700 acres, more than double the acreage grown in 2017. Other states are seeking USDA approval also. An opposing opinion. A leaf merchant has responded to the story "Our Competitors Expand..." in  last week's issue of  this newsletter. His response follows. (The author requests anonymity): While it is true that our competitors (at least some of them) are expanding production, it is doubtful that this has anything to do with reduced production in the U.S. Why?  First, the increases are occurring mainly in African countries that do not effectively control production.  Second, tobacco is the highest earning agricultural crop in those countries, and these are in countries where unemployment is generally high and where many small farmers can barely subsist on production of small quantities of other crops. Instead, the decline in the U.S. for flue-cured leaf most likely reflects the ongoing downward trend in U.S. cigarette consumption and the absence of Chinese purchases due to the ongoing trade war. The downtrend is also impacting U.S. burley production and sales as are declines worldwide in consumption of American blend cigarettes. SOUTHERN FARM SHOW EXHIBITOR LISTINGS (TOBACCO RELATED) 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. Fumigation supplies. 1015 Yara North America. Fertility products. 1107 Flue Cured Tobacco Services. Curing controls. 1104 GoldLeaf Seed Co. Tobacco seed. 1114 BeltWide Inc. Transplant technology. 1115 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 Co. Exposition Bldg. 3127&8611 Benchmark Buildings & Irrigation. Transplanters/irrigation. 3135 Southern Container Corporation of Wilson. Bale sheets and packaging.   3311 Flame Engineering. Weed control with flame. 3520 First Products Inc. Fertilizer boxes for cultivators and tool bars. 3605 MarCo Mfg. Tobacco machinery. 3714 Suretrol Manufacturing. Curing Controls 4018 Conklin Company. AgroVantage System to boost genetic potential. 4035 Bio-Organic Catalyst. Scott Tent 7025 Drexel Chemical Company. Sucker control chemicals. 7027 ABI Irrigation. Irrigation equipment.  Tent 1 7302 Fairbanks Scale 7334  BJ Williamson Greenhouses. Outdoors 8039 Vause Equipment Co. Farm equipment. 8206 Wilson Manufacturing. Farm trailers 8204 Equipmax. Tobacco spray equipment. 8217 Granville Equipment. Tobacco Machinery. 8228 World Tobacco. Bulk fertilizer handling equipment. Curing barns. 8301 De Cloet SRL. Tobacco machinery. 8510 Walters Air Assist Plant Release System. Plant release system.  8516 Mobilift of Burlington, N.C. Forklift sales and service. 8546 & 227 Kelley Mfg. Co. Agricultural equipment. 8701 Tytun Ltd. Bulk flue-curing barns. 8705 Long Tobacco Barn Co. Bulk tobacco curing barns. 9004 Spapperi (Italy). Setters and other tobacco mechanization. DATES TO REMEMBER January 30, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Southern Farm Show. N.C. State Fairgrounds, Raleigh, N.C. January 31, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Southern Farm Show. N.C. State Fairgrounds, Raleigh, N.C.  February 1, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Southern Farm Show. N.C. State Fairgrounds, Raleigh, N.C. February 1, 10 a.m.--1 p.m. Tobacco Growers Association of N.C. Annual Meeting, Holshouser Building, N.C. State Fairgrounds, Raleigh, N.C. (in conjunction with Southern Farm Show). February 5, 8 a.m.-1:30 p.m. CST. TN-KY Tobacco Expo. Robertson County Fair, 4635 Highway 41 N, Springfield, Tn.