Nearing the end: Buyers bid vigorously for tobacco at the flue-cured auction in Rural Hall, N.C., on October 20. Photo by Chris Bickers.
A hard freeze on November 2 over much of Kentucky would have ended the burley crop. But Bob Pearce Kentucky Extension tobacco specialist, says he thinks the last of Kentucky’s burley fields had been harvested several weeks before the freeze. “A lot is curing right now and it seems to be curing well. “The quality of this season’s burley is better than in a while. His rough estimate of production is 70 million pounds, down maybe 10 percent from 2019.
Some light frost events have taken place in North Carolina, but as in Kentucky, substantially all the tobacco (except burley) had been harvested. “We had a good crop even though the first two thirds of the season were very difficult,” says Matthew Vann, N.C. Extension tobacco specialist. “For instance, the Old Belt crop rebounded well in the summer, and it turned out nice.”
Harvest of flue-cured is complete in Virginia, says David Reed, Virginia Extension tobacco specialist, and most of it has been marketed. Some of the best tobacco was that planted after the heavy spring rains. Tobacco planted in the wet weather frequently suffered from root damage, making it difficult to take in the fertilizer that was t here or to weather the stress of dry weather later.
It will be a short crop, Reed adds, perhaps eight to 10 percent below expectations. The quality of the upperstalk was good, but the lower leaves suffered more and were difficult to sell at a reasonable price. Virginia dark fire-cured also experienced good quality but reduced yield, says Reed. “The growers are taking down and stripping right now,” he says.
The last tobacco in the field this year may well be the burley of western North Carolina. According to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, as of November 1, 15 percent of WNC burley remained to be harvested.
Burley deliveries should begin any minute if they haven’t already. Auctions will begin November 24, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, in Danville and Lexington. For more information, call Jerry Rankin, Farmers Tobacco Warehouse, Danville, Ky. (PH 859 319 1400), or Darby Montgomery at Big Burley Warehouse, Lexington, Ky. (PH 859 233 9944).
Auctions are winding down. There will be two more sales in eastern North Carolina, and then the season ends. The average price declined a little at the first sale of November because some low quality leaf that had been held back was brought to sale. But at the last two sales in October, the price had strengthened, perhaps because the industry finally realized how short this crop was.
This was a very short crop, says Tommy Faulkner, auction manager at American Tobacco Exchange in Wilson, N.C. “It may be the shortest crop we have ever had in eastern N.C. First the acreage was small, then there was so much adverse weather, so the yield was low.” Surprisingly, the quality was good, and once leaf grades began to arrive, the buyers supported the market. “We sold leaf grades for about $1.20 to $1.75.”
Production fell short in the Piedmont, too. “I don’t think any of the growers who sell here [Rural Hall] produced a yield of as much as 2,000 pounds per acre,” said Dennis White, owner of the Old Belt Tobacco warehouse near Winston-Salem. “We got too much rain in the spring, then it turned dry, then it started raining again in the fall.” But it sold well, particularly from October 20 on. “All grades sold well, even the scrap and pickings. Everybody was well satisfied.”Sales in Rural Hall will continue through the first three week s of November with perhaps one more Thanksgiving week.
A point to remember for 2021: "There is still a shortage of good quality tobacco," says White.
Casualties of the pandemic:
--North Carolina Tobacco Day has been cancelled due to COVID concerns. It was originally scheduled to take place December 3 in Smithfield. County Extension meetings will still be conducted over the winter, but online. Check with your county agent for details.
--GAP farmer training will not be connected with county tobacco meetings, at least not in North Carolina. The organization is currently planning a “hybrid” approach to farmer training. Most or perhaps all of it will be accomplished online. TFN will provide details in a future issue.
--But organizers of the Southern Farm Show say they will present the show on February 3 through 5, as scheduled.
REPORT FROM OVERSEAS
Brazil--Marketing of the last crop in Brazil was continuing in early October as this year’s crop was beginning to come up for sale. “The 2019/20 tobacco harvest is still being marketed under pressure from the Brazilian Tobacco Growers Association (AFUBRA), which is pushing for the industry to buy the entire contracted volume,” said a release from Agrolink. “Meanwhile, growers who plant Virginia winter varieties ha[d] started harvesting the 2020/21 crop by the beginning of October.” In the big flue-cured state of Rio Grande do Sul, the first leaves were already drying. Growers hoped to complete the harvest before December to avoid heat damage.
