A LAST LOOK AT THE 2022 AMERICAN TOBACCO CROP And a report on Brazil's outlook for 2023

 

A worker loads burley stalks on a truck at an East Tennessee farm as the season comes to an end. File photo by Christopher Bickers. USDA'S FINAL WORD ON THE U.S. CROP: In its last estimate of tobacco production this year, USDA projected flue-cured production as down a little from 2021 (9.1%), while burley was projected down a lot (22%). Among the smaller types, fire-cured and Pennsylvania seedleaf were up 2% and 9.5% respectively, while dark air-cured and Southern Maryland (which is grown almost exclusively in Pennsylvania) were down 2.1% and 42%. Particulars follow, shown by type with percentage change from a year ago:  Flue-cured—284.7 million pounds, down 9.1%; Burley—65.6 million pounds, down 22%; Fire-cured--50.2 million pounds, up 2.1%; Dark air-cured—24.6 million pounds, down 2.1%; PA seedleaf —9.2 million pounds, up 9.5%; Southern Maryland—440,000 pounds, down 42%. (Source: USDA Crop Production Report, Oct. 2022) TENNESSEE: The last of the 2022 tobacco crop has been in the barn for several weeks, says Mitchell Richmond, Tennessee Extension tobacco specialist. “Most of the burley has been stripped, and the dark crop is not far behind”...Burley may have dodged a bullet in the barn: It was very dry when curing began, and there was fear that a quick cure would occur. This certainly did happen in some areas of the tobacco belt, but other areas seemed to have recovered from some of those issues. Burley yield seemed to be slightly better than average for growers who had access to the rains that did fall, says Richmond. For those who didn’t, the yield was average or slightly below…Richmond doesn’t have an estimate of total burley production in Tennessee yet, but he finds the most recent USDA projection of 4.5 million pounds credible...Connecticut in Tennessee? Some, though not all, of the Connecticut broadleaf grown in Tennessee this season did quite well, with good yield and a really good price. But is there a future for Connecticut broadleaf in the Volunteer State? It’s hard to tell. Richmond does not expect much of an increase in 2023. “It is a high-risk, high-reward crop, requiring intense management,” he says. “If you have a contract for one of the dark types (as many Central and Northwestern Tennessee growers did this year) you probably would rather grow dark.” But Richmond says a few farmers in East Tennessee, where dark has not traditionally been grown, are considering planting the Connecticut type in 2023. BRAZIL: More acreage in 2023--but not much more: A projected increase in plantings for the 2023 market in southern Brazil appears to have taken place. But it is not fencerow to fencerow--the volume projected from these plantings is about 8% more than in 2022, somewhat than had been expected. Farmers in southern Brazil (where almost all of the country’s flue-cured and burley is produced) have planted enough to harvest 604.73 million kg in 2023—7.95% more than in 2022, reports AFUBRA, Brazil’s tobacco growers association. AFUBRA President Benicio Albano Werner said the increase in production area was no surprise. “The past crop was, for a large part of [our] tobacco growers, very profitable,” he said. “This encouraged some producers to increase their planted area”...The increase would not in fact make up for the reduction of the season before. Production dropped nearly 11% in 2022 compared to 2021. According to AFUBRA, the volume in southern Brazil was only 560.18 million kgs in 2022, 10.9% less than in 2021 (Source:  Kohltrade Tobacco Trading).  UPDATE How to claim Stabilization Settlement funds The deadline is fast approaching: Current and former tobacco growers should complete a Proof of Claim Form for funds available from the Tobacco Stabilization Lawsuit Settlement. The form is a means of claiming any funds due FC Membership Owners as a result of their sales to Stabilization during 1967 through 1973 and remaining No Net Cost Funds paid by growers on each pound marketed from 1982 through 2004. What is the FC Membership Number? It is a number that all growers were required to have in order to participate in the Stabilization-operated Price Support Program. If you don’t have a number, help is available: The firm conducting the settlement disbursement has all the records of Stabilization and can link grower names and address changes through the years to their FC Membership Numbers and any refunds that are due. Funds due to a FC Membership Number can only be calculated after Proof of Claim forms are submitted and approved.  Claim forms must be received at the address in California by December 12. Submitting a Proof of Claim Form for the FC Membership Number of deceased growers must be made by the authorized legal representative (Administrator) of the legal owner and requires legal documentation of inheritance to include Wills, Letters of Administration or Letters of Testamentary, and an open estate in which to deposit the refunds from which to write checks to the appropriate heirs. Those interested in this approach should contact their Probate Court to understand the process of probating an estate. A warning: Notification of deserving individuals has been hampered by inability to obtain current addresses to replace the pre-911 Rural Route addresses on file when the FC Membership was assigned. Those who know others who should have grown tobacco and may not be aware of this settlement should help to share the word.  A copy of the qualified settlement fund (QSF) Procedures, along with additional relevant information, Frequently Asked Questions, and the Proof Of Claim Form can be viewed:https://omniagentsolutions. com/ lewis settle mentclasstrust. An on-line option is available to those who are original owners of the FC Membership Numbers and have their numbers. However, there is no known source of the number if you don't have it. (This article was written by J. Michael Moore, Extension Agronomist-Tobacco, Univ. of Georgia... Email: jmmoore@uga.edu. Note: You can call Moore at 229-392-6424. He asks that you send a text message before you call.)