TOBACCO TRANSPLANTING IS WELL UNDER WAY

Transplanting on an Ohio burley farm in 2017. Photo by Christopher Bickers. FLUE-CURED Planting in Florida and Georgia  is progressing well, says J. Michael Moore, Georgia Extension tobacco specialist. By Saturday, he expects half the crop will probably be planted, perhaps more in Florida. USDA’s Prospective Plantings Report had earlier projected plantings of 8,000 acres for Georgia, but Moore is very dubious that this will materialize. “I don’t think we will get to 7,000 acres,” he says. No report on Florida acreage yet…There will be plenty of transplants for every grower in the two states thanks to good growing conditions. There may in fact be enough of a supply to send some plants to other states if they need them, he says. As in all recent years, nearly all transplants in Ga/Fl were grown by a relatively small number of commercial producers…The stand of this crop in the field looks good so far, but there some fields will need replanting. About 25 percent of the South Carolina crop will probably have been set out by Saturday, says William Hardee, S.C. Extension tobacco specialist. The transplant-growing season has gone well. “We saw some rhizoctonia and Pythium in a few houses but neither was a huge problem”… Soil moisture has been suitable for transplanting so far, but now Hardee says, “We could use some rain.” …With investments already made in transplant production and land prep, many S.C. farmers are concerned with how to move forward with the late contract cuts, he adds…This would be a good year to take a hard look at soil sample results and possibly take advantage of built-up nutrient levels. In Raleigh, North Carolina, the US Tobacco Cooperative has cut its contracts to growers by 75 percent from last year. Some farmers are taking the full cut, but others reportedly will plant some beyond their reduced contracts in hopes of selling it in an alternate market. BURLEY AND DARK Seeding is nearly complete in Kentucky, says Bob Pearce,

Kentucky Extension tobacco specialist. “A few are running a little late but most should be done by now.” First clipping is get-ting close for early seeded greenhouses. “Transplant-ing is three weeks away at the earliest.” …How much burley? USDA’s Prospective Planting Report, projected that Kentuckians will  plant 36,000 acres of burley, up three percent from last season. But Pearce is dubious that this level of plantings can be achieved. “What I am hearing is that a lot of burley acreage from last year will not be planted in 2022,” says Pearce. The report projected 3,200 acres for Tennessee, up 10 percent. and 1,800 acres for Pennsylvania, down 28 percent...Pearce agrees with previous reports that some of the expected increase in dark plantings is coming from farmers who formerly planted dark and burley but who are replacing burley with dark this year. Bick