LONG DRY SPELL INTERFERES WITH CURING IN KENTUCKY

 

A scene from the tobacco-marketing past: Burley piles await sale on an unrecorded auction floor in Kentucky years ago. File photo provided by the burley growers association .

Burley quality slid precipitously in Kentucky late in the season, thanks to poor curing conditions. “We went from expecting a super crop early in the season to having one that is not real good now,” says Joe Cain, the executive director of the new Kentucky Burley & Dark Tobacco Producers Association (KBDTPA). Cain isn’t ready to estimate the volume that will be produced, but it will be lower than original expectations.   The quality of 2022 burley has been a big problem. Very low humidity has interfered with the curing of this crop. Intense drought since late September has made it difficult to get leaf in case…Not unexpectedly, this has lead to strong buyer interest in the top quality leaf that is available. Contract prices of as high as $2.35 have been reported. At the auctions in Springfield, Ky., a few bids of $2.15 have been reported…It is not clear how much burley is left to sell now. Some contract stations are still open, and the warehouse in Springfield might hold more sales if needed in the New Year. There have been three sales there to date.   There is reason for some optimism about the 2023 burley market, says Cain: “It appears that the companies are going to need more U.S. leaf.”   The last auction of flue-cured at Old Belt Tobacco Sales in Rural Hall, N.C., took place the week before Thanksgiving. “It was a good year for what tobacco we had,” says Dennis White, owner of Old Belt. “I saw some third quality tobacco sell for second quality price on auction. We didn’t get much first quality leaf—the contract stations took it all.” Generally, B2s sold for up to $1.95 on auction while good cutters sold for around $1.80. “Everyone was satisfied with the price." He doesn’t have an exact figure for the volume sold at his warehouse but says it was in the same range as last season. There would have been more but a hard freeze in November killed a lot of the remaining tobacco in the Piedmont and significantly reduced the volume brought to market late in the season. “It turned much of the leaf black,” White says. This was a very late crop in the Carolina Piedmont.   When the Chinese arrived: It was abundantly clear that orders from China appeared on the Old Belt market this season. “The last three weeks (of our auction), we noticed that the type of leaf that Chinese buyers like began bringing $2.10 or $2.15 a pound." It made for a strong finish for the market but White wishes Chinese buying would have started sooner. “Chinese orders came in too late for all the Chinese style leaf we had to get sold,” he says. “I still have some leaf of that style at my warehouse.”   There’s no doubt in White’s mind that independent auctions are here to stay for tobacco growers. “They serve a purpose. Farmers need a market to take rejections and crop failures and to get crop insurance. Where else are they going to get that?”    The first annual meeting of KBDTPA will take place January 19 at the Holiday Inn University Plaza and Conference Center in Bowling Green, Ky. The program starts at 9:30 Central Time. There is no charge to attend the meeting. There will be a luncheon for which there is no charge. But you must register to reserve a place at the lunch. Send an email to Executive Director Joe Cain at KYTobacco Growers@outlook.com to register.    Another major farmer meeting will take place in February. The Tobacco Growers Association of North Carolina will hold its 2023 annual meeting at 10 a.m. Friday, February 3, in conjunction with the Southern Farm Show. The venue will be the Holshouser Building at the N.C. State Fairgrounds in Raleigh. It will end with lunch around 12. Registration not required.   The Southern Farm Show will take place February 1 through February 3 at the N.C. State Fairgrounds in Raleigh, starting at 9 a.m. each day. Admission is free. A list of tobacco-related exhibitors will appear in TFN in January.   REPORT FROM OVERSEAS   BRAZIL: The harvest season was officially kicked off on December 6 with a festival in Rio Grande do Sul, the leading tobacco state in the country. Harvesting has actually been going on for several weeks and normally lasts until February.   ZIMBABWE: An electricity crisis caused by low water levels in the Zambezi River threatens the cure of Zimbabwe’s flue-cured crop. "There is an immediate requirement for tobacco farmers to access concessionary-priced diesel fuel for generator use,” said the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association in a letter dated December 5. “US$300 million of irrigated tobacco is reportedly under threat.” Irrigated flue-cured farms in Zimbabwe need 24 hours of continuous power per day. “Currently, farms are getting on average seven hours of power per day...which is 30 percent of the requirements from the utility.” REFLECTIONS ON THE HISTORY OF BURLEY A few years ago I had the pleasure of writing two books about burley tobacco in the South since John Rolfe first cultivated leaf in Jamestown in the 1600s. They were very similar format: The core of both books are interviews with "old time" burley growers who have grown the crop long enough to have special insights on burley production. In addition, I have provided notes on the historical events associated with burley.  One, The Bluegrass & Beyond, concentrates on Kentucky and Ohio and their place in tobacco history. The other, A History of Burley Tobacco in East Tennessee & Western North Carolina, centers on developments in those two states. Both include a reflection on the history of tobacco auctions by my friend and co-author Billy Yeargin. I have enjoyed sharing these books with my many friends in tobacco. Now, I find I have a few extra copies of both and can sell them to anyone who asks. The number is limited but I think I have enough for everybody. If we don't, I will print some more. If you would like one, send $20, plus $10 shipping and handling to 903--9 Shellbrook Ct., Raleigh NC 27609. Be sure to specify which book--Bluegrass & Beyond or A History of Burley Tobacco in ET/WNC. Questions? Call me at 984 810 9004 or email me at chrisbickers@ gmail. com.