WHY THERE WILL BE LESS DARK PLANTED THIS YEAR

 

MARCH II 2024

Will this dark air-cured tobacco be planted again this season? A lot won't--contracts for the dark types for 2024 are way down. Photo of field near the Highland Research Center, Springfield, Tn., by Christopher Bickers

WHY THERE WILL BE LESS DARK PLANTED THIS YEAR DARK & WRAPPER Attrition is a certainty among dark farmers in western Kentucky and north central Tennessee this season, says Andy Bailey, Kentucky-Tennessee dark specialist. “Some of our dark farmers we won’t see any more [as a result of reductions in contracts].” As of now, the Black Patch is seeing 20 to 25 percent cuts in dark air-cured and from 30 to as high as 60 percent in dark fire-cured, says Bailey…Some dark growers may switch to burley to partially offset losses from dark, he says. Starting greenhouses: Farmers in the Black Patch are starting on their greenhouses now. “A few farmers started seeding the last week of February,” says Bailey. “I know of one who has some plants up already. But most of our growers won’t start until around March 15.” BURLEY In Kentucky, burley growers are just barely getting started on this crop, says Bob Pearce, Kentucky Extension tobacco specialist. Some growers have started seeding trays and a few have plants up at the four-leaf stage. Some ground is being plowed, but wet weather has delayed soil preparation in the eastern two thirds of Kentucky. Contracts are still being offered, Pearce says. But overall volume is expected to decline a little compared to last season. NEWS FROM OVERSEAS More news from the Zimbabwe market: The market here opened Wednesday, and our correspondent in Zimbabwe, farmer Albert Manyika, shared some thoughts as to what is on growers’ minds. “We are selling on two auction floors--Tobacco Sales Floor (TSF) and Premier Tobacco Auction Floor (PTAF)—this season. Tobacco farmers shall be paid 75% of their sales proceeds in foreign currency and the remaining 25% shall be paid in local currency on net proceeds." Strict measures are being implemented to guard against child labor. “That includes strict age verification to ensure that only adults can access selling premises,” Manyika says.  Production in Zimbabwe this year is projected to be 10 percent or more below last year’s record of 296 million kg. Drought is the reason, according to press reports.

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.

WINTER MEETINGS REFLECT LABOR TURMOIL

 

February II 2024 At the TGANC Annual Meeting in 2023, Graham Boyd (right) introduces speaker BSC Executive Daniel Green. Photo by Christopher Bickers. KENTUCKY How to deal with labor in 2024 will be the main topic of discussion when the Kentucky / Tennessee Burley & Dark Tobacco Producer Association and Council for Burley Tobacco will be held in Elizabethtown, Ky., in the Hardin County Cooperative Extension Service Office. "There has been a lot of confusion about various aspects of the program, specifically about the wage classification of workers,” says Joe Cain, the association’s executive secretary. “Growers who rely on the H-2A program for their labor needs are strongly encouraged to attend this important meeting,” Chief among the speakers will be Richard Blaylock, North Carolina District Director for the US Department of Labor, Wage & Hour Division. Startime is 10 a.m. TENNESSEE The size of tobacco farms in Tennessee is shrinking, according to the recent USDA Census. Extension tobacco specialist Mitchell Richmond noted that tobacco farms average about 53 acres in 2022, the most recent census year. In other Tennessee news: ---Dark acreage will be way down in Tennessee and Kentucky this year. Richmond estimates plantings will be down at least 30 percent in the Volunteer state. ---There was a good turnout by farmers at the recent Tennessee/Kentucky Tobacco Expo Feb. 2 in Springfield, Tn., says Richmond. They were anxious to collect news on how to grow a better crop. Much of the information focused on labor management. ---A new burley variety is making a major impression in the market. KT 222, the last burley hybrid developed in the Kentucky-Tennessee breeding program, was introduced on a small scale in 2023, and the results were so good that burley farmers are beating down the doors for seed. It is manageable, says Richmond, and has good curability, but its greatest strength may be its excellent black shank resistance: It ranks 10 out of 10 in resistance to race 0, and nine out of 10 to race 1. Richmond thinks more that half the burley crop in Tennessee may be planted in 222. ---Seeding hasn’t begun in Tennessee at all, says Richmond. It may be two weeks before seeding starts.   NORTH CAROLINA But seeding is well on its way in North Carolina, says Matthew Vann, Extension tobacco specialist. “It got going about one and a half weeks ago,” he says. Be sure to follow temperature and fertility management recommendations.   Production of flue-cured in 2024 appears rather flat except for the possibility of increased sales to China. One giveaway: Vann noticed at the winter meetings that some questions seemed directed at eliciting information on how to grow the kind of leaf that Chinese buyers like. Some tobacco for China will probably be bought on direct contracts and some by dealers… The strong market for last year’s crop could also ca excitement for 2024.  All positions filled: The N.C. Extension tobacco team is fully staffed for the first time in several years. The new members are: ·      Maggie James, Extension associate tobacco; ·      Jeff Dorfman, ag economist; ·      Daisy Ahumada, plant pathologist and ·      Lorena Lopez, entomology. Awards and recognitions: Tobacco Growers Association of North Carolina (TGANC) conferred a number of awards at its recent annual meeting. They were: ·      Extension Service Award: Mike Carroll, Extension agent in Craven County, N.C. ·      TGANC Outstanding Director Award: Sam Crews, grower, Granville County, N.C. ·      Farm Family of the Year: Leggett Farming Partnership (Brent and Sue Leggett) of Nash County N.C. ·      Lifetime Century Member: J. Michael Moore, Extension tobacco specialist, University of Georgia. ·      Distinguished Service Award: Kent Yelverton, fair manager of the North Carolina State Fair. ·      NC Tobacco Hall of Fame Class of 2024: Jerome Vick (Deceased), Wilson, N.C.; Frank Grainger, Cary, N.C.; and Larry Wooten, Raleigh, N.C. Note: A special award was given the N.C. State Fair Tobacco Contest Winners in honor of their performance in October. GAP TRAINING MEETINGS: There are a few more GAP Training meetings, mostly in Ky. The last is March 29. For information, call GAP at 865.622.4606, or email  GAP Connection TrainingCalendar https://shop.gapconnections. com/meetings/calendar or contact your local Extension office. All meetings are in English.   Export meeting: Tobacco Associates (TA), the market promotion organization for flue-cured tobacco, will hold its 77th Annual Meeting on Friday, March 8 at the Wilson County Agricultural Center, 1806 SW Goldsboro St., Wilson, NC 27893.  The program will begin at 10 a.m. and end at 12 Noon. Following the program, lunch will be provided. Please call 919-821-7670 or email tar@tobaccoassociatesinc.org by Tuesday, March 5, to indicate your attendance.  February Bickers Editing Service | 903-9 Shellbrook Ct., Raleigh, NC 27609 Unsubscribe chrisbickers@gmail.com Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice Sent by christopher@bickerseditingservice.ccsend.com powered by

DARK CONTRACTS ARE DOWN BUT FLUE NUMBERS ARESTABLE

 



Daniel Green, executive of the Burley Stabilization cooperative, and Will Snell of the University of Kentucky, were speakers at the recent Burley and Dark Tobacco Producers meeting in Bowling Green, Ky.

There will be at least as many acres of flue-cured this year as last in Georgia and Florida, says J. Michael Moore, Extension tobacco specialist for those two states. “We appreciate the higher level of contracting among buyers,” says Moore. “It probably reflects interest in this crop from China.” Input strategy for 2014: Shop early for supply, then look for low prices, says Moore. Georgians expect to go to field around April 7, a little earlier than usual. But that should be enough to gain some benefits in tomato spotted control. Black shank is a scary prospect for flue-cured growers who want to grow the old standard variety K-326. But Ben Teal of Patrick, S.C., says if you can get it on fresh land, 326 is still an excellent choice. Besides good management characteristics, it produces well on sandy land, he says. He has an advantage since he farms in a part of the tobacco belt in S.C., that has experienced a lot of attrition in recent years. So it is relatively easy to find land for rotation…Teal has used exclusively mechanical harvest for several years and is unlikely to change unless there is some improvement in the availability/cost of labor. It looks like the dark types will be way down in planting this spring. “It appears that there will be considerable reduction in contracting of dark air-cured and dark fire-cured,” says Andy Bailey, Kentucky-Tennessee Extension dark specialist. Dark wrapper types may take the place of some standard dark plantings. Some burley may also return to the Black Patch because the price differential favors it. Bad weather on January 18 reduced the expected turnout at the Kentucky-Tennessee Burley and Dark Producers (BDTPA) association annual meeting in Bowling Green. Worse yet, because of impeded travel, the panel on tobacco labor in 2024 had to be postponed until the association’s February board meeting. But 25 or 30 farmers were able attend, and some good ideas were exchanged, says Joe Cain, the association’s executive secretary. In other news from the meeting:   It’s been decided that BDTPA (which is one year old) and the longstanding Council for Burley Tobacco will be brought under the same umbrella later this year. They had been separate.   New board members are Chris Walker from near Murray, Ky., and John Henning of Breckenridge County, Kentucky. Walker grows burley and dark and Henning grows burley. GAP TRAINING MEETINGS: For information, call GAP at 865.622.4606, or email  GAP Connection Training Calendar https://shop. gapconnections. com/meetings/calendar or contact your local Extension office. All meetings are in English.