THE LAST OF THE 2022 CROP MAKES ITS WAY TO THE MARKET

 

Season comes to end: Some of the last of the 2022 flue-cured crop was tied by hand, cured in an old barn and sold at the N.C. State Fair in October, using old-time methods. There was a contest for best looping (see below). Photo courtesy N.C. Department of Agriculture. As best as can be told, all of the 2022 crop that will be harvested has been harvested. Any that might have still been out in November was probably killed by very cold weather in the middle of the month. Here is what Tobacco Farmer Newsletter has learned about the end of the season in the northernmost tobacco-producing states... NORTH CAROLINA -- The flue-cured crop here turned out better than would have been predicted a month or six weeks earlier, says Matt Vann, North Carolina Extension tobacco specialist. “We had above average yield [that was] better than a year ago in most places, and I think it has sold better than last year,” he says. All flue-cured is harvested (or abandoned) now, he says. He thinks most of the small amount left in the field late in the season was killed by frost. But it wasn’t much. “I surveyed County Agents and we don't think there was more than a couple hundred acres worth that was completely lost, though more was damaged to a small degree,” says Vann… What is the major lesson growers should learn from the last two seasons? Irrigate if you can. That was particularly apparent in 2021 and 2022. “Those were two seasons that were critically short on rain, and our tobacco felt it,” says Vann. If you have the water resources for it, irrigate. KENTUCKY--There is still some concern about the quality of late harvested burley, says Bob Pearce, Kentucky Extension tobacco specialist. “Farmers have been trying to keep it in the barns as long they can,” he says. “We are doing what we can to improve the color. But it has been very cold, and color doesn’t change much in those conditions. There have been a few fronts that went through the Bluegrass lately, but it has been dry most of this month.” The early crop on the other hand has been selling well, getting good quality grades so far, Pearce says. VIRGINIA--Frost in mid October was a big problem for many growers in the Danville area. “Hardly any farmers totally escaped the effects of frost,” says Stephen Barts, Extension agent in Pittsylvania County. “The loss was substantial. But generally, our yield is average or slightly below, our quality is better than in 2021 and our tobacco has sold well so far. But the profit isn’t good because of the high cost of production. When we have such a narrow profit margin after average yield and at least average quality, there is discouragement”…Pittsylvania, the major tobacco-producing county in the Southside, now produces almost entirely flue-cured. Burley was a factor for many years but Barts says it’s almost all gone now. But there is a little dark Virginia and Connecticut broadleaf grown in the county. BLACK PATCH--This season will be remembered in the Black Patch for the very dry fall, says Andy Bailey, Kentucky-Tennessee Extension dark specialist. “We were 6.5 inches below normal rainfall in September and October.  Tobacco harvested from mid September on looks pretty rough. It went into the barn so dry that the cure was really affected.” But tobacco cured earlier looks pretty good. “I have heard of prices of $2.20 to $2.27 for burley.” The Black Patch had some problems with early frost too but not much was still in the field when it set in. “Some dark fire-cured had been cut and was waiting to go into the barn. This was harder to cure. The midribs were full of moisture.”…Some burley is grown in this area and it took a beating from the weather this season. “There is real concern about the usability of much of our burley,” says Bailey…On the other hand, the Connecticut broadleaf in western Kentucky and central Tennessee turned out well again this year. In other tobacco news: A dynasty in tobacco tying? The Maple Hill Loopers won the Tobacco Looping Contest at N.C. State Fair in October. The team, made up of Ken Jones and his wife Sandy of Maple Hill and Michael Sunday of Hendersonville, has won the contest eight times. Once the hands were tied and cured (see photo), they were sold in a mock auction. REPORT FROM OVERSEAS ZIMBABWE Tobacco sales here ended on October 21, and the Tobacco Industry Marketing Board (TIMB) reported both volume and value were up from the previous year. The value, according to TIMB, was US$650 million, up 10.3 percent from the US$589 million value of last year’s crop. The increase in value was generated almost entirely by higher prices since the volume was up only up 0.765 percent. A total of 212.7 million kilograms of tobacco were sold this season, up from [approximately] 211.1 million kilograms in 2021, said TIMB…The Zimbabweans have vast ambitions for expansion in the next three years. “The increase in tobacco sold [this season], as well as the value, is evidence of our efforts as an industry to establish a US$5 billion industry by 2025,” said TIMB.

THE END OF THE GROWING SEASON NEARS

 

Once again, the burley of Western N.C., like this field in Buncombe County, has some of the last tobacco of the season to be harvested. Some hadn't made it to the barn at the beginning of this week. File photo by Christopher Bickers.

A report on field conditions BURLEY, DARK AND WRAPPER KENTUCKY--Harvest in Kentucky was completed several weeks ago, says Bob Pearce, Kentucky Extension tobacco specialist. Most is still curing but some has been stripped. The early cut portion looks okay, he says, while the middle has a bright color. The late-cut crop is in rough condition. “It was very dry in September and October in much of the burley belt. Our tobacco badly needs humidity in the barn to bring it in and out of order,” Pearce says. His advice: “If you have late -cut burley in the barn, be patient. Let it hang as long as you can. Hopefully, it will come in and out of case multiple times to help even out the color.” Some Kentucky farmers are wetting the floors of their barns to bring in additional moisture. “But as dry as the air has been, it has been difficult to keep the moisture in the barn long enough to produce a color change in the leaf”…A good statewide burley yield seems well within reach, says Pearce. But he doesn’t have an estimate yet. TENNESSEE--The October drought was also intense in north central Tennessee. As a result, Connecticut broadleaf grower Jason Evitts of Hartsville, Tn., wasn’t able to finish stripping until last week. That was at least a month later than he had planned. But the crop seemed to have turned out reasonably well, he says. “We wanted to get a 2,000-pound yield but it looks more like 1,900.” The yield was helped by the fact that Evitts is able to irrigate. “If we hadn’t had irrigation, drought would have been a much bigger issue.” Evitts grew three acres of the Connecticut type this year along with two acres of dark air-cured. But for the first time in 100 years, no burley was grown on the farm. “The wrapper types give me a better chance to make a profit,” he says. NORTH CAROLINA: This state is substantially the only burley production area with unharvested acres. NASS estimated that through October 30, 12 percent of the state's burley remained to be cut. Quality is becoming a concern as moisture is needed to bring housed tobacco into case. FLUE-CURED EASTERN N.C.--The volume brought to sale at auction has been high all season, and the buyers are still buying, says Kenneth Kelly, owner of Horizon warehouse in Wilson. "The price has gone up and down," he says. "Lugs and primings have sold well, and pickings have sold very well. But better quality leaf could have sold better." When will it end? Kelly doesn’t have a set date for his last auction, but they will continue selling at Horizon for at least two weeks after the primary markets close...This market may well be remembered for the disruption caused by export buyers coming in late with vague requirements for leaf quality. “I hope the industry will review this situation over the winter,” Kelly says. WESTERN N.C.--Lugs and cutters produced in this area were better quality than expected, says Dennis White, owner of Old Belt Tobacco Sales, a warehouse in Rural Hall near Winston-Salem. “Lugs have sold for around $1.35 a pound, cutters for $1.65 to $1.70, and good sound leaf brought from $2.05 to $2.10,” he says…But the weather was not good in the Piedmont. “It was dry, then it was wet, then it was hot…The crop was very late.” By the way, there was still some leaf in the field in the Piedmont as late as last week, White says.   In other tobacco news: Burley production outside the U.S. was lower for the 2022 crop, while prices for it were much higher, says Will Snell, Kentucky Extension ag economist. In August, it was reported that burley grower prices this past season were up 33 percent in Argentina, up 36 percent in Malawi and up 73 percent in Brazil. How much burley does the industry want? In its October U.S. crop report, USDA estimated the current American burley crop at nearly 66 million pounds. “Based on current inventory levels and forecast leaf exports and domestic needs, the industry would likely prefer a U.S. burley crop in the 75 to 80 million pound level,” says Snell. A tip for farmers seeking compensation as part of the flue-cured cooperative settlement: You don’t need the FC membership number to document membership in the coop, says the Georgia Farm Bureau. “This information is included in the files provided to the attorneys and the firm charged with settling their claims,” the organization said in a statement. A possible advantage of growing Connecticut broadleaf: Its short season might allow for some labor efficiency if harvest can be completed before burley or dark harvest begins, say Andy Bailey and Bob Pearce of the Kentucky Extension Service.