WILL CHINA BUY ANY US LEAF THIS YEAR?

The pressure is on for the USTC flue-cured cooperative (headquraters shown above) to deal with a whole season's production for China languishing in storage,

There's still some hope as this issue was prepared that Chinese buyers might return to the U.S. to buy from the 2019 crop, but not much, since they apparently bought almost no U.S. tobacco from the 2018 crop (NOTE: there are a few exceptions. See below). The U.S. Tobacco Cooperative, which has sold much of the American tobacco that has gone to China in the last 10 years, has cut its contract volume by 80 percent across the board and has closed two of its marketing centers, in Smithfield, N.C., and La Crosse, Va. Both were owned by the co-op. The Smithfield facility has been sold. La Crosse is up for sale. Marketing centers that will operate this season  are  in Wilson, NC; Nashville GA; Mullins, SC and Danville, VA.

A big part of USTC's problems arise from the unconventional way China buys tobacco here. Instead of contracting with individual growers, China communicates its anticipated need to USTC in the winter and the cooperative assigns pounds to its growers. Every season until 2018, the Chinese confirmed their order close to planting time. But last spring, the message was "Purchases suspended." Since planting was already under way, USTC honored the contracted amount intended to meet China's stated needs, hoping the political situation would change. But it didn't. Most of the 2018 leaf that USTC hoped to sell to China is in storage.

The exception to that protocol: China has contracted directly with a few American growers for most of the past seven years, including 2018. Reportedly, it honored those contracts, signed before the Trump tariff controversy, making those growers the only ones who sold American leaf to China from the 2018 crop. But, again reportedly, those farmers have received no contracts for 2019. 

Remember: Nearly all of the US tobacco sold to China is flue-cured, reflecting the fact that the dominant blend in China is the  British blend, made entirely of flue-cured. 

The harsh reality of 2019 is that the tobacco industry is in crisis. "But our tobacco farmers do not have to face this crisis on their own," says Darrell Varner of Versailles, Ky., the president of the Council for Burley Tobacco. "The Council is working across state lines to strengthen alliances with other tobacco organizations, including Tobacco Growers Association of North Carolina and the Burley Stabilization Corporation. We all realize that there is strength in numbers, and if we are the voices for our grower members, it is important for all tobacco growers--burley, flue-cured and dark fired--to work together." 

You can find out more about the group effort to stabilize the tobacco economy at the annual meeting of the Council for Burley Tobacco annual meeting on March 19 on the Western Kentucky University Campus in Glasgow, Ky. Keynote speaker will be Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles.

Will hemp become a realistic alternative?  Thanks to the latest Farm Bill, which removed hemp from the controlled substance list, hemp may now have a place on tobacco farms, says general manager Steve Pratt of the Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association in Lexington, Ky. "Hemp farmers will now be able to buy crop insurance, apply for loans and grants and write off their [hemp-related] business ex-penses on their taxes like any other farmer." In addition to legal-izing the growth and production of domestic hemp, this new law gives each state the opportunity to oversee production." Added benefit: "Hemp farmers and researchers will now be eligible for competitive federal grants as well," Pratt says. But make sure you have a workable method of marketing it.

Editor's Note: I am beginning to get intrigued about the concept of hemp as a companion crop to tobacco. Reportage seems appropriate on my part, so starting with the next issue, I will include news on an occasional basis on the agronomic side  of hemp in the Southeast. If the feedback is good, it will become a regular feature. Let me know what you think.

DATES TO REMEMBER

GAP GROWER TRAINING EVENTS

Check with your local Extension Service office for further details. All meetings listed here are free and presented in English. Eastern Time except where indicated.

Mar 5, 1 p.m. West Union, OH

Mar 5, 2 p.m. Russellville, KY

Mar 5, 6:30 p.m. Georgetown, OH

Mar 6, 9 a.m. Georgetown, OH

Mar 7, 3 p.m. Central City, KY

Mar 7, 6 p.m. Greeneville, TN

Mar 7, 6 p.m. Abingdon, VA

Mar 8, 6 p.m. Ben Hur, VA

Mar 11, 10 a.m. Tifton, GA

Mar 11, 6  p.m. Springfield, KY.

Mar 12, 9 a.m. Murray, KY

Mar 12, 10 a.m. Marion, SC

Mar 12, 3 p.m. Hopkinsville, KY

Mar 18, 11 a.m. Lexington, KY

Mar 18, 6 p.m. Lafayette, TN

Mar 19, 6 p.m. Glasgow, KY

Mar 25, 9 a.m. Turbotville, PA

Mar 26, 9 a.m. Quarryville, PA

Mar 26, 1 p.m. Quarryville, PA

Mar 26, 6 p.m. London, KY

Mar 27, 9  a.m. Quarryville, PA

Mar 27, 1 p.m. Quarryville, PA

Mar 28, 9 a.m. New Holland, PA

Mar 28,1 p.m. New Holland, PA

Mar 29, 9 a.m. Mechanicsville, MD

Apr 11, 6 p.m. Bedford, KY

Jun 25, 5 p.m. Hopkinsville, KY