A GOOD START IN THE DEEP SOUTH-- RAIN, COLD HAS SLOWED SETTING ELSEWHERE

No-tillage is playing a bigger part in burley production. Improved conservation and reduction of trips across the field are two of the reasons. A special transplanter is needed, like the C&M Trium shown here. REPORT ON THE CROP  In Georgia and Florida, the crop is off to a good start and looks better than average, says Georgia Extension tobacco specialist. Not only that, the level of tomato spotted wilt is low. Some farmers are beginning to make their last cultivation. Moore thinks around 8,000 acres have been planted in Georgia. "We lost a few farmers, and some of those who remained cut back. At this point, it looks like it might be a smaller crop, but not significantly smaller." All has been the field for several weeks. In South Carolina, on the other hand, things haven't gone nearly as well. "Rain put a hurting on us," says Matt Inman, S.C. Extension specialist. "We had seven inches of rain at the Pee Dee station from Monday through Tuesday of last week, then had 2.5 more on Friday and Saturday." There was some drowning and some flopped plants, and there's been a little more tomato spotted wilt than expected, maybe five to six percent of plants. "We haven't had a good start." Acres? There was some attrition among Palmetto State growers as there was in Georgia, but plantings don't appear to have been drastically reduced. "I would estimate 7,000 to 7,500 acres," says Inman. Planting has been complete for some time. In other tobacco states, according to USDA's Crop Progress Reports: In North Carolina, flue-cured planting in N.C. was 89 percent com-plete. In Franklin, Halifax and Nash Counties in the northeast, the planting season had been hit by very cool, wet conditions. To-bacco was just sitting still till farmers could get in the field to plow the crusted, water logged soil. In Cumberland and Robeson Counties in the southeast, windy conditions have deteriorated small plants, but it appears most resetting has been completed. Excessive rainfall amounts have caused lots of standing water in fields. In Virginia, about 63 percent of the flue-cured and 43 percent of the fire-cured crop had been transplanted. In western North Carolina, planting of the small burley crop was 21 percent complete. In Ashe, Watauga and McDowell Counties, six to 10 inches of rain fell last week. Substantial flooding and excess soil moisture have impacted tobacco. In Tennessee, farmers in the central part of the state were waiting for a break in the rains. Setting of tobacco was limited. In the east, despite warmer temperatures, wet conditions brought most field activities to a halt. In Virginia, about 33 percent of the burley has been transplanted. In Kentucky, farmers continue to make headway with planting, but wet conditions have hampered progress at times. Only 17 percent of the crop has been set out so far, half of the five-year average. Producers need successive days of dry weather to push through with getting tobacco in the ground. Rainfall was heavy at times in Kentucky, and there were reports of flooding and crop damage in areas of the state. Tobacco setting made up some ground after very little progress was reported last week. The damage from the very unseasonable freeze and accompanying cold weather on May 9 is still to be reported but it is not expected to be extensive since so little of the crop had been set by that time. In other news:  Was your GAP meeting cancelled? Thanks to the COVID-19 measures, many GAP meetings were. As an alternative, GAP Connections has set up an online option to receive GAP Training for this year. Note: It must  be completed by June 30 for you to participate in the GAP Connections Cer-tification Program. Login to GAP Connections and find the link for Online Training on the Grower Dashboard. Watch the two videos prov-ided and complete the quiz afterward. A 100 percent score on the quiz is re-quired. Once that is achieved, a record is placed on your Grower Training Report. To confirm, go back to the Grower Dashboard or click Menu in the upper right hand corner and navigate to Training. It may take up to 24 hours for Training to show. Questions? Please call GAPC at (865) 622-4606.