Tobacco Farmer Newsletter: July 2021

Saturday, July 17, 2021

DEEP SOUTH TOBACCO GETS OFF FAIRLY EASY WHEN HURRICANE ELSA BLOWS THROUGH

How will Connecticut broadleaf fare in its first extensive year of production in the South?You can find that out at field days in North Carolina, Kentucky and Virginia this month. See below for details. The photo above shows the Connecticut type growing in a field at the Laurel Springs, N.C., research station. Courtesy of Matthew Vann.

Elsa had been downgraded to tropical storm status by the time it reached Georgia and north Florida. It brought about a half inch of the rain on the west side of the tobacco area and as much as six inches farther east. “Our sandy soils performed very well after the storm except in wet spots that probably shouldn’t have been planted in the first place,” says J. Michael Moore, Extension tobacco specialist. “But the rain kept us out of the field for harvest part of the time since. As things dry out and the tobacco begins to ripen, harvest will pick up”...Elsa crossed S.C. on July 8. “We got some strong winds and up to 4.5 inches of rain. But the damage wasn’t great except in isolated areas,” says Matthew Inman, tobacco Extension specialist. “It could have been a lot worse.”

REPORTS BY STATE

FLUE-CURED

South Carolina: Close to 50 percent of S.C. growers have be-gun harvesting, says Inman. Topping meanwhile is 85 percent complete, and probably would have been farther along by now but heavy rains in the last month prevented field work for some growers.

North Carolina: Conditions vary widely for the N.C. flue-cured crop. After a dry April and May, it has been very wet, says Matthew Vann, N.C. Extension tobacco specialist. “I understand some tobacco-growing areas had record rainfall for the months of June. Especially south of Highway 64 and east of 95, we have had a lot of rain. On the other hand, north of Raleigh and toward Greensboro and down to the Sandhills, there is a fine crop. Western Piedmont, from Winston-Salem west, could use a good rain. Topping would get in full swing.”

Georgia/Florida: One of the problems of all this rain is that it reduces the effectiveness of the root system. That in turn could circumvent the resistance mechanisms in disease resistant varieties which are usually located in the roots,” says Moore. It is much to be hoped that soils dry out soon..." Despite the rain, it has not been a bad year for diseases in the Deep South. “Tomato spotted wilt virus has run its course for this season with less than 10 percent of the plants showing symptoms,” says Moore. “Black shank is the only real ques-tion at this point. Target spot seems to be reasonably well managed with Quadris”…About 500 acres of tobacco blew over as a result of the storm. That has happened several times. “Some farmers had to set plants back up more than once.” Farmers have complete topping, but only about three percent has been harvested.

BURLEY AND DARK

Kentucky: Two weeks of rain has caused the burley crop to go down- hill, though not every grower was affected, says Bob Pearce, Kentucky Extension tobacco specialist. Occasionally you find some areas of drought, with the effects normally associated with drought stress… The USDA reported in its Crop Progress and Conditions Report, For most farmers, the rain was welcome as conditions had been very dry. Only a few early crops are being topped now, and harvest at full speed is probably two or three weeks away. “But harvest of Connecticut broadleaf is finished,” says Pearce. “It is very fast-growing [compared to burley], and only needs two weeks from topping till you harvest it.”

Tennessee: The burley crop appeared in good shape as recent rains greatly improved crop conditions. “I was just in middle Tennessee this week, and a lot had been topped already,” says Mitchell Richmond, Tennessee Extension tobacco specialist. “There have been a few cases of black shank and a few instances of boron deficiency, but this crop is doing well”…The USDA estimates that 25 percent of Tennessee tobacco had been topped by July 12 and that five percent of the crop remained to be planted at that time.

More tobacco news...

USTC seeks Chapter 11: U.S. Tobacco Cooperative (USTC) in Raleigh, N.C., filed for Chapter 11 protection in Federal Court on July 7 to meet its obligations to member-growers during crop season 2021. “This filing provides us the best way possible to meet our short-term obligations and plan for the future,” said Oscar J. House, CEO and President of the Cooperative. “In no way does this action reflect on the health of the organization and its ability to continue operations well into the future.” This filing will allow USTC to reorganize and restructure to honor commitments to stakeholders and ensure the organization’s sustainable future, a statement from the cooperative said. Watch this space for more on this development.

TOBACCO EVENTS SUMMER 2021

A Tobacco Field Day will be held in North Carolina July 21 at the research station in Oxford, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. For more information, contact mcvann@ ncsu.edu.
The Kentucky Corn, Soybean, and Tobacco Field Day will be held July 27, at the University of Kentucky Research Center, in Princeton, Ky., from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
A field day will be held on July 29 displaying the tobacco research at the Southern Piedmont Center, 2375 Darvills Rd., Blackstone Va., from 9 a.m. to lunch.
Kentucky’s Dark Tobacco Twilight Tour will be held August 12 at 5:30 p.m. on the West Farm of Murray State University, 615. Robertson Road No., Murray, Ky.

AN OPEN LETTER TO USA TOBACCO FARMERS

From Star Agritech International

Dear Farmers,

Star Agritech International is a leading Tobacco supplier in the world and has a worldwide presence with an office on every continent. Our HQ is located in Istanbul, Turkey.

Currently we are partnering with Turkish farmers to grow the Flue-Cured Virginia Tobaccos (FCV) and Burley type Tobaccos in Turkey.

Currently, the Turkish FCV crop is negligible, however we believe we can increase the quality and yield of the Turkish FCV crop over several seasons.

Our project begins with the 2022 growing season starting in March. e are interested to acquire used but in good operating condition:

 FCV Curing Barns Capacity 8 to 10 Tons fired by natural gas. Quantity is 50 barns over the period 2022 to 2024.

 Two-wheel Drive and Four-wheel Drive Tractors.

 Motorized Farm implements.

In that regard, we are publishing this open letter to request Farmers who are interested to sell us their old farming tools and equipment.

If you have tools and equipment that you would like to sell, please feel free to contact us at info@staragritech.com.

Once commercial terms have been agreed, Star will acquire the equipment Ex-Farm and will be responsible for dismantling, packing and export procedures.

We thank you for your consideration and hope it will lead to a fruitful cooperation between the Farmers and Star Agritech International.

Sincerely,

Star Agritech International

Your copy should address 3 key questions: Who am I writing for? (Audience) Why should they care B

Saturday, July 3, 2021

EARLY JULY TOBACCO HIGHLIGHTS: FIRST HARVEST, FIRST HURRICANE

Harvest has begun in Florida and Georgia, like in this south Georgia field just before Hurricane Elsa arrived. Photo by J.M. Moore.

Special Report: An unexpected market for used flue-cured barns has emerged. Because of new government regulations, the Mid East country of Turkey must now produce any flue-cured or burley it needs, though they now have no equipment. They need to ac-quire bulk barns quick, and they like the ones they have seen here in America. They want to buy barns—preferably used—from Am-erican farmers. If you are interested, get details from the open letter from the Turkish leaf dealer Star Agritech International at the end of this column.

FLUE-CURED

Georgia/Florida: Harvest has begun in the Deep South and should be going full blast in two or three weeks, says J. Michael Moore, Extension tobacco specialist for the two states. It's a beautiful crop, he says. "We have had an excellent growing season, and we have the opportunity for good yields."

But there is an obstacle: The first hurricane of the season. Hurricane Elsa may reach the Florida and Georgia tobacco growing counties by Tuesday and/or Wednesday, says Moore. “Tobacco which has not already received a full chemical sucker control program may benefit from an application of flumetralin (Prime+, Flupro, Drexalin Plus) alone prior to the storm to hold sucker growth until the remain- ing applications of contacts.” MH can be applied when weather condi- tions are better, he adds.

South Carolina: The crop (all flue-cured) looked good at the beginning of July. “A few farmers have started harvesting this week,” says Matthew Inman, South Carolina tobacco Extension specialist. “It was generally where they got good rains early.” At least half the crop has been topped, he adds.

North Carolina: An opposing opinion on the condition of the Eastern Belt crop--A flue-cured grower near Wilson, N.C., thinks TFN painted too rosy a picture in the last issue about the crop in that area. “We have a sorry crop of tobacco, the worst that has ever been in eastern North Carolina. It is at least 25 percent short. We got too much rain.”

Virginia: A "Million Dollar Rain" fell over most of the flue-cured growing area on the night of July 1 and 2, says David Reed, Virginia Extension tobacco specialist. "I call it million dollar because some tob-acco in areas like Pitt, Halifax, and Charlotte counties were very dry. But now the crop there should pick up"...Connecticut broadleaf con-tinues to be a viable type in Virginia. "We have about 200 acres," says Reed. It's no fluke, he says. "Our soils are well suited to the type. The best results seem to come on farms where Virginia dark fire-cured has been grown."

BURLEY & DARK

Tennessee: The crop is varied. Some is suffering—in some cases badly—from too much rain in the early season followed by dry weather, the later set burley seems to be doing well says Mitchell Richmond, Tennessee Extension tobacco specialist. “But generally the crop is off to a good start.” He noted that tobacco at the Greeneville research center looks very good…Much of the Connecticut broadleaf in the state will be topped next week, he says.

Kentucky; Transplanting of the dark types ended in the week just ended, says Andy Bailey, Kentucky-Tennessee Extension tobacco specialist. There was quite a bit of resetting because of earlier unfavorable weather. Some has already been irrigated once. Burley had been 94 percent set by June 27, according to USDA, and it was expected to be 100 percent by now except perhaps for some stragglers …The Connecticut broadleaf crop in Kentucky has been planted…The still relatively new wrapper type Pennsylvania 41 continues expansion in the Black Patch. “We have gone from around 100 acres to 500 acres in three years,” says Bailey. Much is grown by Amish and Mennonites, some of whom grew it before in Pennsylvania.

Virginia: Dark setting was completed this past week, and all but stragglers among burley growers appear to be finished too.

Pennsylvania: Blue mold has been found in burley fields near Oxford, Chester County. No word if farmers are treating for it yet.