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.