SEEDING IN PROGRESS FOR MOST FLUE-CURED

 

MARCH I 2024

A burley greenhouse in the Bluegrass of Kentucky.

FLUE-CURED In South Carolina, it is 'so far, so good', says William Hardee, S.C. Extension tobacco specialist. Seeding has begun on all farms. “The last grower I heard about who started seeding his did it last week,” he says. That was much later than most of the crop. “Our growers are beginning to clip now, and almost everyone has decent stands. They are trying to decide how many useable plants they will end up with.” No significant diseases yet, he adds…In the Southside of Virginia, farmers haven’t seeded 100 percent of their greenhouses. “But we are getting close to it,” says Stephen Barts, Extension agent in Pittsylvania County. “No field work has been done at all. Growers are not antsy yet but headed that way.” There has been a lot of cloudy, rainy weather. “The clouds have slowed germination, and when it rains you have to close the houses’’…This county may not see any burley planted this season. At least Barts isn’t aware of any. “But we will still have some dark fire-cured planted. There is a tradition of growing fire-cured here and there is some sentiment to continue.”These growers still have the skills and structures to grow it.” There will also be some Connecticut broadleaf in the county…In North Carolina, the Tobacco Farm Life Museum in Kenly, N.C., is becoming part of the state Department of Natural and Cultural Resources after 40 years as a non-profit museum. “The move ensures the museum’s long-term viability,” said board member Susan Barnes in an article in the Johnsonian newspaper. “We wanted the TFLM to be sustainable for the future. We wanted to be sure that tobacco’s history is preserved for many years to come.” Re-organization is just beginning and it is yet to be determined how the museum will be staffed and what changes if any might be made in the program, among others areas. NEWS FROM OVERSEAS   The Zimbabwe tobacco auction scheduled to open Wednesday. Thanks to favorable weather, the 2023 crop set a record of production of 296 million kgs of tobacco. The projection for the 2024 crop is a more conservative 250 million kgs. The Zimbabwean government aims to increase production to 300 million kgs per year by 2025.