S.C. ESCAPES DAMAGE FROM ISAIASA flue-cured grower in the Piedmont of North Carolina revs up his mechanical harvester. No significant issues resulted from Hurricane Isaias in South Carolina. "We had a one inch rain last night in Florence which is not as much as was predicted," says Matthew Inman, S.C. Extension specialist. Most S.C. farmers had harvested their crops at least once by the time the hurricane arrived. "We will be light on our lugs," he says. "Many are not being harvested."  The big issue now is poor root systems, thanks to heat in June. "The plants have struggled to handle the heat." A late note: It looks like TFN jumped the gun in its report on hurricane damage in S.C. A reader wrote, "We here in Horry County [S.C.] had a lot of damage--leaf blown off the stalk and blown down and three to four inches of rain," said farmer Dwight Stevens. Harvested so far: According to USDA's Crop Progress Report, Georgia has harvested 45 percent of its crop, South Carolina 41 percent, North Carolina 16 percent and Virginia 19 percent. No harvest of burley is known to have taken place. The consequences of the coming dissolution of the Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association are not yet clear. But the Lexington (Ky.) Herald Leader newspaper estimated that if 4,000 grower-members turn out to be eligible to receive a share of the money, liquidating investments and selling assets might bring in a total of about $28 million. That would be paid out evenly to farmers who were members between 2015 and 2019. "A pot of $28 million would mean about $7,000 each," the newspaper said. There is still room for tobacco in Kentucky's economy, says Al Pedigo, a burley grower from Scottsville, Ky., and current president of BTGCA. "But after 100 years, the cooperative found it hard to find a place for itself." One leading Kentucky grower, who requested anonymity, told Tobacco Farmer Newsletter that this may be his last year in burley. In recent years he has grown as much as 200 acres but is down to 15 for 2020. It might get down to zero next year. But he won't exit tobacco--he will continue to grow dark air-cured. The relationship between growers and buyers is better for dark than for burley, he says.   Cover crops are not traditionally used in tobacco production. Why is that? There are concerns with unpre-dictability of nitrogen supply and the possibility that extended N minera-lization might compromise the quality of the cured tobacco leaf, says Alex Woodley of the N.C. State Department of Crop and Soil Sciences. "Our re-search did not support these concerns and found evidence supporting the potential use of cover-crop N as a cost-effective management strategy in the production of flue-cured tobacco." See more details from Woodley and from other N.C. State University tobacco specialists at tobacco.ces.ncsu.edu/2020/07/2020-virtual-tobacco-field-day/. CROP REPORT FROM USDA  KENTUCKY: Farmers finally saw some reprieve from intense summer heat as cooler temperatures and precipitation moved in, relieving a moderate drought. Tobacco is doing fairly well with 55 percent of the crop in good condition, and 64 percent blooming and 40 percent topped. TENNESSEE: Welcome rain improved overall crop conditions in East Tennessee. Before, the crop was suffering from heat. Statewide, 63 percent of the crop had been topped. NORTH CAROLINA: Farmers prepared for the arrival of tropical storm system Isaias. That included tobacco harvest, according to a report from Craven County. Shortly before the storm, excessive heat and low soil moisture in most areas slowed crop growth. Tobacco harvest continued in Robeson County as Isaias approached. Crops have benefited so far from scattered showers across the county.  SOUTH CAROLINA: 82 percent had been topped. GEORGIA: Tobacco was being harvested. Some drought pressure was apparent. VIRGINIA: 19 per cent of the crop had been harvested.   AUCTION WAREHOUSE OPENINGS  --August 26--Horizon Ltd., 1723 Goldsboro St. So., Wilson, N.C. Live & silent auctions. Contact Kenneth Kelly at 252 292 8822. --August 26-American Tobacco Exchange, 2101 Miller Rd., Wilson, NC. Live auction, 9 a.m. Contact auction manager Tommy Faulkner at 910 585 2708. --Opening Date to be Announced--Old Belt Tobacco Sales, 1395 Old Belt Way, Rural Hall, N.C. Live auctions. Flue-cured and burley will be sold. Contact Dennis White at 336 416 6262 or the warehouse switchboard at 336 969 6891.   Good crop in Zambia: Through July 7, flue-cured growers in Zambia had sold 20.6 million kilos at an average price of US$ 2.55 per kilo. Burley growers had sold 4.5 million kilos at an average price of 1.64 per kilo. Total volume for all tobacco types was 25.1 million kilos.