MARKETING SEASON NEARLY COMPLETE

Farmers flow into a past Southern Farm Show. This year's show will take place February 5 to 7 in the N.C. State Fairgrounds in Raleigh, N.C. See below for further details. Photo by the editor.

Tobacco stripping in Kentucky was estimated as of January 2 at 82 percent complete, said USDA in its December Crop Progress and Condition report. "[That] put[s] progress on par with historical levels for this juncture," the report said. December, by the way, marked the third straight month with above normal rainfall in Kentucky after a drought.

But many burley farmers suffered less-than-favorable curing conditions, says Ryan Quarles, commissioner of agriculture in Kentucky. The curing season was unfavorable in some areas of Kentucky "In my area of the state [the Bluegrass],

Visit us at the Southern Farm Show, booth 808.

the tobacco didn't properly cure," said Quarles, who's from Georgetown. "And now over the last couple of weeks, we've seen tobacco companies straight up reject buying tobacco that was grown this year, which means for a lot of our producers, they've lost the market." He told the Owensboro (Ky.) Messenger-Enquirer that he's heard from tobacco growers who are dropping the crop in 2020 because of poor returns and increased labor costs.

Lack of rainfall in the hottest parts of July and August damaged burley in upper east Tennessee, says Jason Crouch of Oak Hill Farm near Johnson City, Tn. "[We] probably didn't do as well in the field as we would've hoped," Crouch told TV station WJHL "It burnt up a little bit in the field and lost some weight." Crouch will grow tobacco again in 2020.

But the number of leaf producers in the area has really dropped in recent years. Anthony Shelton, Extension agent in Washington County, remembers that 20 years ago, "You couldn't drive two miles without seeing tobacco--here, there and everywhere," he said, "Now, you have to really get off the beaten path to find tobacco fields."

Uncertainty continues among most tobacco producers. "I don't know of a grower in North Carolina that has a plan for next year," Brent Leggett, Nashville, N.C., told National Public Radio at the end of last year's growing season, "Survival is the plan right now." N.C. commissioner of agriculture Steve Troxler added, "The question is, if I raise it, is it going to be profitable? And, you know, if you're not going to turn a profit, then why would you do it?"

OVERSEAS REPORT

Zimbabwe signup down: Registrations by farmers to grow tobacco in Zimbabwe in 2020 is 15 percent lower than a year ago, says the online publication Spotlight Zimbabwe. "Truth be told, farmers have lost interest in tobacco farming," said the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union president Shadreck Makombe. "They felt cheated from last season. The cost of labor input was not commensurate with their earnings."

DATES TO REMEMBER

The Southern Farm Show starts Wednesday, February 5, 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. For more information about the Show, go to https://southernshows.com. 

Growers meet: The annual meeting of the Tobacco Growers Association will take place at the show on Friday, February 7. It starts at 10 a.m. in the Holshouser Building and ends at lunch. GAP training will be available afterward.

Tobacco-related exhibitors include (by building and exhibit number):

Jim Graham Bldg.  

• 102 Brock Equipment Co.
• 222 Evans Mactavish Agricraft.
• 227 Kelley Mfg. Co. Agricultural equipment.
• 302 Hardee by EVH Manufacturing Co. Sprayers.
• 704 (also 8131) Agri Supply. Agricultural materials.
• 807 Mechanical Transplanter Co. Transplanters, seeding equipment for tobacco, vegetables and hemp.
• 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.
• 1120 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.  Manufacturer of spraying equipment.
• 1213 H&H Farm Machinery. "Building sprayers your way since 1978."
• 1302 Mid-Atlantic Irrigation Co.
• 1415 Spapperi (Italy). Setters and other tobacco mechanization.

Exposition Bldg.

• 3127 (& 8611) Benchmark Buildings & Irrigation. Transplanters/irrigation.
• 3135 Southern Container Corporation of Wilson. Bale sheets and packaging.  
• 3308 Tobacco Growers Association of N.C.

• 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.

Scott Tent

• 7025 Drexel Chemical Company. Sucker control chemicals.
• 7027 ABI Irrigation. Irrigation equipment.
• 7034 (&8012) Coastal AgroBusiness. A full-service agricultural solutions provider serving NC, SC, VA, ETN and NGA.
• 7302 Fairbanks Scale.
• 7322 Transplant Systems. A growing system company.

Tent 1

• 5029 AmeriGas Propane. One stop shop for all propane delivered.
• 7334  BJ Williamson Greenhouses.

Outdoors

• 8039 Vause Equipment Co. Farm equipment.
• 8208 Wilson Manufacturing. Farm trailers.
• 8204 Equipmax. Tobacco spray equipment.
• 8217 Granville Equipment. Tobacco and Hemp Machinery.
• 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.

DATES TO REMEMBER

GAP Meetings

Jan 6, 9 am, Wilson, N.C.

Jan 7, 9 am, Winston Salem, NC

Jan 8, 9 am, Rocky Mount, NC.

Jan 9, 8 am, Kinston, NC.

Jan 10, 9 am, Goldsboro, NC.

Jan 13, 9 am, Williamston, NC.

Jan 14, 9 am, Blackstone, VA.

Jan 14, 9 am, Greenville, NC.

Jan 15, 4 pm, South Hill, VA.

Jan 16, 8:30 am, Oxford, NC.

Jan 16, 4 pm, South Chatham, VA

Jan 17, 9 am, Smithfield, NC...