Tobacco Farmer Newsletter: THE PRICE AT AUCTION CONTINUES TO RISE

Prices were higher for flue-cured leaf sold at auction this week (August 12 through 16), and there seems good reason to think prices across the board will continue to increase. Among the individual houses:

The Old Belt Tobacco auction held its first sale on Tuesday, said owner Dennis White, and the results were good. "We sold 160,000 pounds at an average price of a little over $1.92 a pound," he said. "We sold a little for $2.18. X1s brought 2.05 and up, X2s $1.90 to $1.92, and X3 around $1.80. We had very little tobacco that graded less than a 3." He expects to sell every Tuesday till the season ends. The house is located at 1395 Old Belt Way, Rural Hall, N.C. You can reach Dennis White at 336-416-6262.

The Big M Tobacco Warehouse held its second sale Wednesday and sold 150,000 pounds, said owner Mann Mullen. He didn't have a firm average price when we talked but estimated it at $2, with a top of $2.18. "Heavy cutters brought $2.15. Lugs sold for $2.01 to $2.02. There were 70,000 pounds of pickouts. Big M will auction every Wednesday till the end of the season. The house is located at 1723 Goldsboro St., Wilson, N.C. For more information, call Mann Mullen at 919-496-9033 or Greg Ray at 252-799-6061.

The American Tobacco Exchange held a sale on Wednesday. About 200,000 pounds was sold, said Randy Brandon. There were a few sales at $2.20. Xs generally brought $2, and pickouts brought $1 a pound or less. This auction is a silent auction, and farmers don't attend the sale itself. The sales will continue every Wednesday afternoon. Deliveries can be made as late as mid morning Wednesday. The house located at 1300 Tobacco Rd., Wilson, N.C. For more information, call Brandon at 252-343-1661.

Carolinas Tobacco Auctions of Lake City, S.C., held a sale on Wednesday and sold 200,000 pounds. Jimmy Lynch, one of the owners, didn't have an average price for the floor when I talked to him. But he said rags appeared to average $.73 a pound and the best quality grades averaged around $2.12 a pound. The very best price at the sale was $2.25 for some very high quality cutters. The next sale will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday. The house is located at 662 So. Ron McNair Blvd., Lake City, S.C. For more information, call Lynch at 843-687-5753.

How much tobacco will we produce?

Don't ask USDA. It issued its production projections report for August on Monday. They appear below with my calculation of how they compare to last year. But I report all this somewhat reluctantly because I continue to think that the USDA this year is not just off but way off in its estimates. My sources in South Carolina say that acreage is not way down, as USDA projects, but in fact is up, perhaps as much as 10 percent. I am reliably informed that plantings in Georgia are not up 5,000 acres as USDA projects but more likely are close to last year's level. And now, USDA has estimated that Virginia flue-cured production is up nine percent and burley production is down 35 percent. I have been told by sources in Virginia that neither projection is credible. For the next issue of Tobacco Farmer Newsletter (to be transmitted close to Labor Day), I will survey my most reliable sources and see if I can render some order on this question.

FLUE-CURED

NC--340 million pounds, down 10%.
GA--30 million pounds, up 33%.
VA--52.9 million pounds, up 9.2%.
SC--17.1 million pounds, down 32%.
All US--440 million pounds, down 7%.

BURLEY

KY--148.2 million pounds, down 2%.
TN--21.8 million pounds, down 24%.
PA--12.7 million pounds, up 10.7%.
OH--4.5 million pounds, up 12.7%.
NC--3.3 million pounds, down 16.4%.
VA--3 million pounds, down 35.2%.
All US--194 million pounds, down 5%.

OTHER TYPES

Fire-cured--61.5 million pounds, up 14.4%.
Dark air-cured--14.2 million pounds, down 6.8%.
Cigar types--9 million pounds, down 2%.
Southern Maryland--4.7 million pounds, down 29.5%.

No supplemental fertilizer
meant a very spindly plant
this season.
This flue-cured tobacco
near Sanford NC
got the same heavy
rains as most
N.C. fields, but the farmer
elected not to apply supplemental nitrogen.

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