BAD NEWS FOR BRIGHT GROWERS: IT IS GETTING REALLY DRY!

 

Transplanting early in the season near Wilson in the Eastern Belt of North Carolina.  FLUE-CURED The situation is dire for North Carolina flue-cured growers, and most may not realize how poor the conditions are, says Matthew Vann, N.C. Extension tobacco specialist. “We need rain terribly. And it’s predicted that temperatures will exceed 90 degrees over the weekend. It is a real critical period for the crop.” To make matters worse, the air is very dry. “It is like being in a sauna,” says Vann. Just as this issue was emailed: The National Weather Service has announced that this is the driest spring on record in Raleigh and the third driest on record in Fayetteville. “Raleigh hasn’t been this dry since 1887,” says Vann.   The N.C. Piedmont was way behind on transplanting two weeks ago. It has caught up s0me, but some smaller and medium-sized growers have just stopped until the weather improves, Vann says. All South Carolina acreage is apparently set, says Matthew Inman, South Carolina tobacco Extension specialist. "The Pee Dee got a little rain last week but is still very dry," says Inman. “Our worst problems are wind and sandblasting.” He is hoping replanting is not needed because as far as he knows, there are no plants left in Georgia, Florida or the Carolinas…Much of the crop is approaching layby, he adds. Georgians and Floridians invite you for a tour that will be held beginning with a kickoff dinner in Blackshear, Ga., on June 7 and ending June 9 in Live Oak, Fla. For more information, go to https:// tobacco.caes.uga.edu/tours/2021-ga-fl-tobacco-tour.html. BURLEY Transplanting is well under way for Kentucky burley growers, but how much is actually in the ground is in question. “It might be 25 percent or it might be closer to 50 percent,” says Bob Pearce, Kentucky Extension tobacco specialist. “The weather was good the first half of May which would suggest a faster rate of setting. We just had a cool week and there have been reports of slow arrival of labor, so that would suggest the lower rate.” There haven’t been any unusual disease problems except target spot in the plantbeds, he says. Because of lower temperatures over the past two weeks, growers along the Tennessee/Kentucky Border (near Nashville) have been slow starting planting their burley and dark tobacco, sources tell TFN. That has also been the case in central Kentucky. But if temperatures rise this week, planting should take off. NASS planting estimates through May 16: Burley--Kentucky: seven percent; Virginia: 18 percent; and N.C. 10 percent. Flue-cured--Virginia: 45 percent; N.C. 83 percent; S.C. 93 percent; Georgia 98 percent, and Florida 100 percent. Virginia fire-cured 24. REPORT FROM OVERSEAS Zimbabwe: Through the first month of the 2021 sales season, farmers had sold 90.2 million kilograms at an average price of US$2.66 per kg. That compares to US$2.27 per kg same period last year. There is still considerable hope that Zimbabweans will exceed last year's volume production, which was a record. FINALLY, THANKS TO EVERYONE who sent such kind comments on my book, THE BLUEGRASS AND BEYOND. I am very glad to hear it is as rewarding to read as it was to write. Say, if you sent in an order and didn't get a book, write to me and I will straighten it out--I have had a problem with delivery of several of the books. Also, if you want to order a copy, send $20 plus $8 shipping and handling to No. 126, 7413 Six Forks Road, Raleigh, N.C. 27615. Make the check to Christopher Bickers. Your copy should address 3 key questions: Who am I writing for? (Audience) Why should they care B