Auction price holds up

A worker cleans off the baling area on a flue-cured farm near Sanford, N.C. At the Piedmont Warehouse in Danville, Va., 120,000 pounds of flue-cured was sold last Thursday, the last day of auction sales last week, says Jim Eggleston, sales manager. "We averaged $2.15 a pound. That included some cut rag," he says. "The week before, we had a little better tobacco on the floor, and the average was $2.22." Last Thursday, the practical top was $2.28. "Our quality continues good. We could use some rain to fill out the tops. I know some farmers who are irrigating now." Crop progress varies widely, he says. "Some farmers have finished harvesting and some haven't primed at all. That's the Old Belt for you." An early killing frost would be a problem in this area. "If we don't get one, we may be harvesting till November." Reports from the field... North Carolina: Most of the flue-cured crop will be harvested or at least ready for harvest by the end of this month. "But limited barn space will likely extend harvest into October, even though most of the tobacco will be mature and ripe," says Loren Fisher, N.C. Extension specialist. How much was produced? One can only guess, but Fisher thinks N.C. volume might fall at around 310 million pounds. "It will definitely be closer to 300 million than 400 million." Whatever the volume, the quality of much of the N.C. crop is exceptional, says Fisher. "Farmers generally are very pleased with the prices they are receiving and just wish they had more to sell," he says...The executive vice president of the Tobacco Growers Association of N.C. is not optimistic about the Tar Heel market. "It will not be a big finish," says Graham Boyd. "Half of the North Carolina crop was out of the field by Labor Day, and some farmers sold for the final time the week after the holiday. We will miss target by 30 percent." Kentucky: The burley crop is better than was expected two months ago, says Bob Pearce, Kentucky Extension tobacco specialist. "About 60 percent has been harvested which is a little behind normal, mainly because much of it was planted later than normal," he says. There has been one good bit of news, he says. There was not as much abandonment due to heavy rains in early July as we expected. "In mid July, it looked like 10 to 15 percent of the acreage would not be harvested. Now it looks like it was closer to five percent." Entire fields weren't generally abandoned. "It was just patches within fields." The quality should be good, but Pearce says the cured leaf weight may be a disappointment in some cases. "The plants will feel heavy when you harvest them, but so much water will be lost in the cure that the cured leaf weight may not live up to expectations ." Space high-moisture burley wide on the rail: Stanley Holloway, Yancey County (N.C.) Extension agent, said that considering the growing conditions, farmers in western North Carolina are looking at wider spacing of their sticks on the tier rails. "This will allow more air movement," he said. Be sure all available space is uniformly filled. "Air does not circulate well through tobacco in partially filled barns," Pearce says.   For the record: USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service issued its September Crop Production estimate on September 12. Its tobacco figures don't seem any more credible than they did in August, but here they are for anyone who would like to review them.     Flue-cured: NC--340 million pounds; VA--52.9 million pounds;GA--29.2 million pounds; SC--17.1 million pounds; US--439.2 million pounds. Burley: KY--156 million pounds; TN--21.8 million pounds; PA--12.7 million pounds; OH--4.5 million pounds; NC--3.5 million pounds; VA--3.0 million pounds; US-- 201.7 million pounds. Fire-cured: KY--36.7 million pounds; TN--23.6 million pounds;VA--800 million pounds; US--61.1 million pounds. Dark air-cured: KY--12 million pounds; TN--2.6 million pounds;US--14.6 million pounds. Cigar: US--Nine million pounds. Southern Maryland: PA(US)--4.7 million pounds.

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BIG M TOBACCO WAREHOUSE  1723 Goldsboro St. SW, Wilson, N.C.,  in the old Liberty Warehouse    We will hold both sealed bid auctions  and live auctions.   We promise HONEST AND TRUSTWORTHY  SERVICE    For more information, contact: --Mann Mullen at 919-496-9033  --Greg Ray at  252-799-6061  or --the warehouse at 252-206-1447.  EMail: shrimpmann@embarqmail.com

Is the flue-cured market heading for another big finish?

This Wake County, N.C., farmer finishes harvest of his flue-cured in this field on August 9. The first sale of September continued the good prices and relatively few "no sales" that has characterized the auction season since it began on July 31. The Old Belt Tobacco warehouse of Rural Hall, N.C., held a sale on September 3 and sold 170,000 pounds at an average price of $2.04 per pound. "The top price was $2.20 per pound for good grade cutters," says owner Dennis White. There were a few lugs for sale, but 95% of the tobacco on the floor Tuesday was cutters. "X grades generally brought $1.75 to $1.80 per pound, with a few X1s selling for $2 a pound." No tickets were turned. "Everybody left tickled," he says. Unless contract prices are raised again, White thinks auctions will average 10 to 12 cents higher. More production than projected? In Wilson, N.C., last week, the average price was $2.07:7 per pound at the flue-cured auction at Big M warehouse."The practical top was $2.20 a pound," says owner Mann Mullen. "All leaf offered at the sale attracted a bid, and very few bids were rejected." There were a lot of cutters on the floor and only a little leaf. "Leaf has been coming in faster, but I think some growers are holding theirs because they think the price might get higher." It may, but Mullen thinks there may be more leaf out there than expected. "The top of the stalk has responded to extra nitrogen and new root growth," says Mullen. "I think production may be more than what has been projected." Getting better in the Bluegrass: In Kentucky, things are looking up in the Central Bluegrass. "We have had a remarkable rebound," said Roger Quarles of Georgetown. "Some (of the stalks) are almost too big to handle." Harvest is in full swing. Leaf will be on the thin side, and on Quarles' farm, perhaps 10 percent of poundage will be lost due to the rainfall in early July. "But that is much improved from what we expected a month ago," he says. "If we can just get it into the barn, I think we will be all right." Everyone in Central Kentucky lost nitrogen thanks to the rain, and there was much supplementation. Quarles sprayed liquid nitrogen underneath the leaves directly onto the soil using a high clearance sprayer with drop nozzles. "It was a lot of extra work, but leaf colored back up afterward," he says. Quarles thinks that many of the tobacco roots suffocated immediately after the torrential rains on Independence Day weekend, and the crop looked bad. "But the roots started growing again two to three weeks later, and it began looking better," says Quarles. "We may not have lost as much nitrogen as earlier believed.  Yield will fall: In southwest Virginia, farmers didn't get the overwhelming precipitation that many others did. But there was nevertheless more than was needed, says Danny Peek, Extension agronomist in Virginia. He projects that yield will fall between 1,700 and 1,800 pounds per acre. Either yield level would be on the low side. But production will be considerably higher than the USDA had projected earlier, largely because that agency had greatly underestimated planted acreage in southwest Virginia at 1,700 acres. A more accurate planting estimate was compiled in August indicating that acreage was 2,700, about a thousand more than USDA calculated. That would suggest that production for the year will be somewhere between 4.6 and 4.9 million pounds, close to what it was in 2012.  Top quality in the Tar Heel state: In North Carolina, farmers were harvesting all across the state as August drew to an end. Some in the Coastal Plain had finished completely.  But conditions varied across the state, so it was hard to say how much of the crop has been harvested, or even how many operations are completely finished, said Matthew Vann, N.C. Extension crop science associate. The crop is a little light in weight, he added, not surprising under the circumstances.  The best estimate he had was that total loss on N.C. flue-cured was somewhere in the 20 to 25 percent range.  "But the crop is curing very well, and everything I've seen looks very good," said Vann. "We will have another top quality crop, and that's really a testament to our growers." The truth about flue-cured acreage:  In South Carolina and Georgia--and the flue-cured belt as a whole--some clarity has been achieved on the planted acreage question. You will recall that USDA's NASS has consistently projected plantings that were much lower than what Extension and state department of agriculture specialists in South Carolina said they observed and much higher than what Extension and department of agriculture specialists in Georgia said they observed. Now, USDA's Farm Service Agency has issued a report on tobacco acreage. It shows that flue-cured plantings in S.C. were 14,045 acres, up considerably from the 9,000 acres that NASS has projected, while plantings in Georgia are 13,189 acres, somewhat short of the 15,000 acres projected by NASS but still a good bit more than what the state specialists expected. Reported for other flue-cured states: Virginia 21,000 acres (down 2,000 acres from the most recent NASS estimate); N.C., 175,000 acres (up 5,000 acre from the NASS estimate); and Florida, 1,280 acres (Florida isn't included in NASS estimates). ADVERTISING THE ENERGY BARN From World Tobacco Inc. It saves on labor costs, reduces energy consumption  and cures your tobacco to world-class standards  The Energy Barn from World Tobacco Inc. is built to the highest standards: It uses only quality materials with galvanized steel construction and tongue and groove Coldmatic panels designed to withstand thermal rippling. The Energy barn delivers consistent, positive air flow along with desired humidities and temperatures. So, even in humid or difficult conditions, and regardless of stalk positions, your tobacco quality is maximized every time. Our bins are the ideal size for curing consistency.  The Evans MacTavish Agricraft heat exchanger is the most widelyused heat exchanger on the bulk tobacco barn market. It has been proven to be the most efficient. The exchanger is made of 304 stainless steel, all welded construction. The frame is tube steel with insulated panels.    So call to place an order at the number below, and save money on next year's crop with a high-efficiency bulk-curing barn.   WORLD TOBACCO INC.    3709 Nash Street N W Wilson, N.C. 27896. PH: 252-230-1032  Website: www.worldtob.com ● email: info@worldtob.com  SPECIAL NOTE:  WE HAVE TWO 2013 MODEL LAST BARNS TO SELL AT THE 2013 PRICE! BIG M TOBACCO WAREHOUSE  1723 Goldsboro St. SW, Wilson, N.C.,  in the old Liberty Warehouse    We will hold both sealed bid auctions  and live auctions.   We promise HONEST AND TRUSTWORTHY  SERVICE    For more information, contact: --Mann Mullen at 919-496-9033  --Greg Ray at  252-799-6061  or --the warehouse at 252-206-1447.  EMail: shrimpmann@embarqmail.com

FLUE-CURED SUPPLIES SHORT WORLDWIDE

As tight as supplies are here, there appear to be no substantial uncommitted inventories of flavor flue-cured anywhere else in the world. The volume of flue-cured produced in Brazil in 2013 was just slightly more than in 2012, said Universal Leaf in its recently issued estimate of world leaf production. It was about a full 14 percent less than in 2011. In Zimbabwe, our other major competitor in producing flavor flue-cured, auctions ended in July. I don't have the final statistics, but press reports indicate that growers would fall a few percentage points short of the target set by the national tobacco board. I think we can reasonably derive from this news that there will be no large inventory of flavor flue-cured that manufacturers can turn to if they come up short here. Surely, these factors will exert further upward pressure on prices here, which will be good news, unless the price gets so high that manufactures have to substitute something else.  

Observations from individual states:

• In South Carolina, my old friend Extension agronomist Dewitt Gooden tells me that he and his colleagues have heard enough about the USDA projection--repeated as recently as August 12 in the August Crop Report--that S.C. flue-cured growers planted only 9,000 acres. He thinks they planted at least last season's acreage--about 12,000--and may have planted a little more. Dewitt held off making an estimate of production just yet. But there certainly seems reason to expect a boost in the national crop from the Palmetto State. 

• But not from Georgia. Extension sources continue to think that USDA way overestimated planted acreage in that state. Instead of the 15,000 acres that USDA proposes, they think plantings are closer to the 10,000 acres that were planted last year.

• Virginia flue-cured volume is definitely up this year, but again my sources say that the USDA estimate of 52.9 million pounds is way too high. One says, "I don't see it going much higher than 47.5 mil-lion pounds."
  
  
  And a closing observation: Tobacco buyers are getting so anxious for leaf that one of them placed an ad in Sunday's Raleigh News & Observer. He probably won't place it again. "Wanted," it said. "Flue-cured tobacco. Buying all stalk positions & grade indexes..." "I only got two calls, and they just wanted to check the price," Steve Nelms of Castalia, N.C., told me when I called him Tuesday. But he is still going to buy tobacco from this crop. "Flue-cured might be down 35 percent," he says. "I am seeing a lot of leaf that is good quality but thin." Could buyers get desperate for leaf by the end of this season? "They are sort of getting desperate now," he says. But he for one is determined to be competitive. "My prices are as good as anyone else," he says. For more information, call Nelms at 252-904-8775. His facilities are located 11 miles east of Louisburg, N.C.

THE PRICE AT AUCTION CONTINUES TO RISE

Prices were higher for flue-cured leaf sold at auction this week (August 12 through 16), and there seems good reason to think prices across the board will continue to increase. Among the individual houses:

• The Old Belt Tobacco auction held its first sale on Tuesday, said owner Dennis White, and the results were good. "We sold 160,000 pounds at an average price of a little over $1.92 a pound," he said. "We sold a little for $2.18. X1s brought 2.05 and up, X2s $1.90 to $1.92, and X3 around $1.80. We had very little tobacco that graded less than a 3." He expects to sell every Tuesday till the season ends. The house is located at 1395 Old Belt Way, Rural Hall, N.C. You can reach Dennis White at 336-416-6262.

• The Big M Tobacco Warehouse held its second sale Wednesday and sold 150,000 pounds, said owner Mann Mullen. He didn't have a firm average price when we talked but estimated it at $2, with a top of $2.18. "Heavy cutters brought $2.15. Lugs sold for $2.01 to $2.02. There were 70,000 pounds of pickouts. Big M will auction every Wednesday till the end of the season. The house is located at 1723 Goldsboro St., Wilson, N.C. For more information, call Mann Mullen at 919-496-9033 or Greg Ray at 252-799-6061.

• The American Tobacco Exchange held a sale on Wednesday. About 200,000 pounds was sold, said Randy Brandon. There were a few sales at $2.20. Xs generally brought $2, and pickouts brought $1 a pound or less. This auction is a silent auction, and farmers don't attend the sale itself. The sales will continue every Wednesday afternoon. Deliveries can be made as late as mid morning Wednesday. The house located at 1300 Tobacco Rd., Wilson, N.C. For more information, call Brandon at 252-343-1661.

• Carolinas Tobacco Auctions of Lake City, S.C., held a sale on Wednesday and sold 200,000 pounds. Jimmy Lynch, one of the owners, didn't have an average price for the floor when I talked to him. But he said rags appeared to average $.73 a pound and the best quality grades averaged around $2.12 a pound. The very best price at the sale was $2.25 for some very high quality cutters. The next sale will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday. The house is located at 662 So. Ron McNair Blvd., Lake City, S.C.  For more information, call Lynch at 843-687-5753.

How much tobacco will we produce? 

Don't ask USDA. It issued its production projections report for August on Monday. They appear below with my calculation of how they compare to last year. But I report all this somewhat reluctantly because I continue to think that the USDA this year is not just off but way off in its estimates. My sources in South Carolina say that acreage is not way down, as USDA projects, but in fact is up, perhaps as much as 10 percent. I am reliably informed that plantings in Georgia are not up 5,000 acres as USDA projects but more likely are close to last year's level. And now, USDA has estimated that Virginia flue-cured production is up nine percent and burley production is down 35 percent. I have been told by sources in Virginia that neither projection is credible. For the next issue of Tobacco Farmer Newsletter (to be transmitted close to Labor Day), I will survey my most reliable sources and see if I can render some order on this question.

FLUE-CURED

• NC--340 million pounds, down 10%. 
• GA--30 million pounds, up 33%. 
• VA--52.9 million pounds, up 9.2%.
• SC--17.1 million pounds, down 32%. 
• All US--440 million pounds, down 7%. 

BURLEY 

• KY--148.2 million pounds, down 2%. 
• TN--21.8 million pounds, down 24%. 
• PA--12.7 million pounds, up 10.7%. 
• OH--4.5 million pounds, up 12.7%.
• NC--3.3 million pounds, down 16.4%.
• VA--3 million pounds, down 35.2%.
• All US--194 million pounds, down 5%.

OTHER TYPES

• Fire-cured--61.5 million pounds, up 14.4%. 
• Dark air-cured--14.2 million pounds, down 6.8%. 
• Cigar types--9 million pounds, down 2%.
• Southern Maryland--4.7 million pounds, down 29.5%.

• No supplemental fertilizer 
• meant a very spindly plant 
• this season. 
• This flue-cured tobacco 
• near Sanford NC 
• got the same heavy 
• rains as most 
• N.C. fields, but the farmer 
• elected not to apply supplemental nitrogen.

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A MESSAGE TO TOBACCO GROWERS Do you still need curing space? World Tobacco Inc. can help!    A limited number of just-built curing barns are complete and ready for immediate delivery from World Tobacco Inc. of Wilson, N.C. They will be sold on a first-come first-served basis. If you are interested, call Billy Price at 252.230.1032 or wlpricejr@myglnc.com. And why would you want a World Tobacco Inc. barn? In the current tobacco economy, there is no better way to increase profits than through higher efficiency. That's why more producers around the world turn to World Tobacco, Inc. They know they can rely on our "Energy" tobacco barns to save on labor costs, reduce energy consumption and cure tobacco to world-class standards. Our barns are built to the highest standards: They use only the finest quality materials with all painted stainless steel construction and 2" tongue and groove, and air tight and water tight Coldmatic panels designed to withstand thermal rippling. Our "Energy" barns deliver consistent, positive air flow along with desired humidities and temperatures.So, even in humid or difficult conditions, and regardless of stalk positions, your tobacco quality is maximized every time. Our bins are the ideal size for curing consistency.  The Evans MacTavish Agricraft heat exchanger is the most widely used heat exchanger on the bulk tobacco barn market. It has been proven to be the most efficient. It is designed to fit all the popular barns. The exchanger is made of 304 stainless steel, all welded construction. The frame is tube steel with insulated panels. So call soon at the number below, and you still may be able to save money on this year's crop with a high-efficiency bulk-curing barn.    WORLD TOBACCO INC.  2605 Nash Street, Wilson, N.C. 27896.  ● PH: 252-230-1032 ● website: www.worldtob.com ● email: info@worldtob.com

BIG M TOBACCO WAREHOUSE  1723 Goldsboro St. SW, Wilson, N.C.,  in the old Liberty Warehouse    We will hold both sealed bid auctions  and live auctions.   We promise HONEST AND TRUSTWORTHY  SERVICE    For more information, contact: --Mann Mullen at 919-496-9033  --Greg Ray at  252-799-6061  or --the warehouse at 252-206-1447.  EMail: shrimpmann@embarqmail.com

AUCTION MARKET OPENS STRONG,...

A burley field dries out in Clay County, Ky. ...BUT HOW MUCH LEAF WILL BE PRODUCED?  Reports continue to come in of the yield loss caused by the June and July rains. And some areas report a degree of recovery since the precipitation slowed down. USDA will issue its August projection later this month, and I will come back to you as soon as I can analyze it and get a better handle on what the production prospects really are. For now, let me share reports I got Friday from the Northern and Southern ends of the tobacco belt.  Kentucky--A month after the event, farmers were still reeling from the torrential rains of July 4, 5 and 6, when eight to 10 inches of rain fell over most of the tobacco-producing areas. "This was probably the most widespread damage I have seen from a single event in my career," said Bob Pearce, Kentucky Extension tobacco specialist, at the time. When Tobacco Farmer Newsletter spoke to him Friday, he continued to be pessimistic about the volume Kentucky growers will be able to produce, suggesting that abandoned fields and reduced yield might result in a 25 percent loss. One practice that could help: Proactive use of sprays for leafspot diseases.  Florida and Georgia--There was an abundance of rain in these states too but the crop seems to have fared better.  J. Michael Moore, Extension tobacco specialist for Georgia and Florida, said many Florida growers have made all but their last harvest, producing good usable leaf that is grading well. Yield will be a little short because of the rain, but nowhere near as much as in the burley states. This could wind up being a good crop for the Floridians. Georgians have had a harder time. In the Willacoochee and Nashville area, 56 inches of rain has fallen so far this year, more than it normally gets in one year, and other areas had similar experiences. "Besides drowning, we have had a good bit of nitrogen loss, and also damage to the root systems," Moore said. "Yields will be down and quality reduced." But he is putting off making a production estimate for a little longer. The loss will probably be less than what is projected in the burley states.  The auction season begins: Piedmont Warehouse of Danville, Va., conducted the first auction of the season with a sale on July 30, selling 100,000 pounds of flue-cured for an average price of $1.73 a pound. "We opened a little early to help farmers who needed it," said Jim Eggleston, sales manager. "We hope to sell 200,000 to 250,000 pounds at each sale later." Every pound attracted a buyer, and the farmers were happy with the price they received. But they will probably be happier at this week's sale, since prices from contracting companies reportedly rose almost literally overnight after the first one. That was reflected the next day, when a new auction company, Carolinas Tobacco Auctions of Lake City, S.C., sold 130,000 pounds of flue-cured for an average price of $1.93 per pound. "I would be glad to have another sale like that," said Jimmy Lynch, one of the owners of Carolina Tobacco Auctions. "It proved that the auction for tobacco works the way it should." Carolinas will hold sales at 10 a.m. every Wednesday through the season. The location is 662 So. Ron McNair Blvd., Lake City, S.C. For more information, call Lynch at 843-687-5753. Piedmont will hold sales at 10 a.m. every Thursday. The address is 301 Trade Street, Danville, Va. For more information, call Eggleston at 434-489-4292.  More auctions:  The Big M Warehouse will hold its opening sale at 10 a.m., August 7, and every Wednesday after that. The address is 1723 Goldsboro St. SW, Wilson, N.C. For more information, call Mann Mullen at 919-496-9033 or Greg Ray at 252-799-6061 or the switchboard at 252-206-1447.  The Old Belt Tobacco Warehouse in Rural Hall, N.C., will hold its opening sale of the season on Tuesday, August 13, at 10 a.m. Sales will be held each Tuesday till the end of the season. Tobacco can be delivered starting today. The address is 1395 Old Belt Way, Rural Hall. For more information, call Dennis White at 336-416-6262. Tobacco tours coming up in the next 30 days Cross Creek Seed Inc. will hold a variety tour, Wednesday, August 7, 9 a.m. at Seven Springs Baptist Church, 5924 NC 55 East, Seven Springs, N.C. Visitors will caravan to the nearby farm of Mack Grady where they will be able to see the new variety CC 143, which features good resistance to black shank (both races) and to Granville wilt, along with yield and grade indexes comparable or better than K 326. The tour will end with lunch. Call Cross Creek Seed at 877-922-7333 if you plan to attend. The Murray, Ky., Twilight Tobacco Tour will be held on Tuesday, August 13, at the West Farm of Murray State University off St. Rte. 1660 (Robertson Rd.) starting at 5:30 p.m. It will conclude with supper around 7:30 p.m. For information, call Bob Pearce at 859-221-2465. ADVERTISING BIG M TOBACCO WAREHOUSE  1723 Goldsboro St. SW, Wilson, N.C.,  in the old Liberty Warehouse    We will hold both sealed bid auctions  and live auctions.   We promise HONEST AND TRUSTWORTHY  SERVICE    For more information, contact: --Mann Mullen at 919-496-9033  --Greg Ray at  252-799-6061  or --the warehouse at 252-206-1447.  EMail: shrimpmann@embarqmail.com    A MESSAGE TO TOBACCO GROWERS Do you still need curing space? World Tobacco Inc. can help!    A limited number of just-built curing barns are complete and ready for immediate delivery from World Tobacco Inc. of Wilson, N.C. They will be sold on a first-come first-served basis. If you are interested, call Billy Price at 252.230.1032 or wlpricejr@myglnc.com. And why would you want a World Tobacco Inc. barn? In the e current tobacco economy, there is no better way to increase profits than through higher efficiency. That's why more producers around the world turn to World Tobacco, Inc. They know they can rely on our "Energy" tobacco barns to save on labor costs, reduce energy consumption and cure tobacco to world-class standards. Our barns are built to the highest standards: They use only the finest quality materials with all painted stainless steel construction and 2" tongue and groove, and air tight and water tight Coldmatic panels designed to withstand thermal rippling. Our "Energy" barns deliver consistent, positive air flow along with desired humidities and temperatures.So, even in humid or difficult conditions, and regardless of stalk positions, your tobacco quality is maximized every time. Our bins are the ideal size for curing consistency.  The Evans MacTavish Agricraft heat exchanger is the most widely used heat exchanger on the bulk tobacco barn market. It has been proven to be the most efficient. It is designed to fit all the popular barns. The exchanger is made of 304 stainless steel, all welded construction. The frame is tube steel with insulated panels. So call soon at the number below, and you still may be able to save money on this year's crop with a high-efficiency bulk-curing barn.    WORLD TOBACCO INC.  2605 Nash Street, Wilson, N.C. 27896.  ● PH: 252-230-1032 ● website: www.worldtob.com ● email: info@worldtob.com

The crop that washed away?

A wet burley field near Greeneville, Tn.

Reports of yield loss resulting from the heavy rains keep piling up. I spoke to a flue-cured grower near Kinston, N.C., in the Eastern Belt July 14. He told me that his tobacco has already lost one pulling because of all the water. "And now some of our fields are yellowing," he said. "Those plants won't put on the size. Some of our tobacco has flopped and won't be harvested. It looks to me like we will lose 25 percent of the crop in this area." Most of the damage came from near-daily rains starting June 17 and continuing till July 13 and amounted to 20 inches. There was especially heavy rain on July 11 and 12. But July 14 and 15 were sunny.

The situation may be even worse in southern Ohio and parts of Kentucky. After several days of off-and-on showers that saturated the soil, the area experienced heavy rainfall over the Independence Day break. When a warm sunny day followed, drowning damaged tobacco on several farms in the Ohio counties of Adams and Brown, Ohio. Making matters worse, scalding caused some quality loss, and much of the tobacco that is damaged may not be worth harvesting. "If tobacco was topped and only a couple of weeks from a normal harvest, you may be able to salvage enough of the crop by harvesting," says Ohio Extension Educator David Dugan. "But not tobacco that [was] not even in bloom yet."

Parts of Kentucky experienced similar conditions and in some cases suffered a 10% percent loss. "We have lost a portion our acreage to drowning after the big rains on July 4, 5 and 6," says Bob Pearce, Kentucky Extension tobacco specialist. "Planting intentions in the state were in the range of 75,000 acres. But wet weather may have prevented some plantings, so we may have planted about 72,000 acres."

Speaking of plantings, I have received some respectful disagreement with some of the acreage projections from USDA that I included in the last issue. S.C. Extension tobacco specialist Dewitt Gooden emailed me last week saying, "I do not believe the USDA projected acreage of 9,000 is correct for S.C. I have been told by very reliable sources that our acreage is up five to 10 percent from 2012." Estimating acreage last year at 12,000 acres, that would put 2013 plantings at between 12,600 acres and 13,200 acres...I had the chance to talk to Georgia Extension tobacco specialist J. Michael Moore last night on the N.C. Tobacco Tour, and he still insists that the USDA projection of 15,000 planted acres is way too high. He continues to estimate plantings of 11,000 acres...In N.C., Extension tobacco specialist Loren Fisher estimates acreage at between the USDA projection of 170,000 acres and 175,000 acres.

A new leader for flue-cured growers: The U.S. Tobacco Cooperative, which serves flue-cured growers, has a new board chairman. He is grower James T. (Jimmy) Hill of Kinston, N.C., who was elected in May. It also has a new board member representing South Carolina, Dwight Stevens of Loris. Both positions were held for many years by Albert Johnson of Galivants Ferry, S.C. 

China opens an office: Johnson has since joined the staff of China Tobacco International of North America, a new division of CTIEC, the Chinese national tobacco company. It will establish an office in coming months in the Raleigh, N.C., area. Observers believe the company will try to buy flue-cured tobacco from this crop but I haven't been able to confirm this. "The company likely will buy from both leaf dealers and farmers [when it begins buying]," says Peter Thornton, assistant director for international marketing with the N.C. Department of Agriculture, who says a U.S. office was a logical next step in China Tobacco's import process. "The U.S. is the last major tobacco supplier where China doesn't have a company." Steve Troxler, N.C. agriculture commissioner, says, "My staff and I have been working to boost exports of tobacco for several years now, and we think CTI's presence in our state will mean even more opportunities for our farmers."

Opening dates: The U.S. Tobacco Cooperative has announced opening dates for its delivery stations. They are:

• Nashville, Ga.-July 23.
• Mullins, S.C.-July 25.
• Smithfield, N.C.-July 30.
• Wilson, N.C.-August 1.
• Oxford, N.C.-August 7.

Danville, Va.-August 13.

New leaders for the Council for Burley Tobacco: Rod Kuegel of Owensboro, Ky., is the new president of the Council for Burley Tobacco. Other officers are Scott Travis of Cox's Creek, Ky., vice president; Hampton Henton of Versailles, Ky., Secretary, and Eddie Warren of Richmond, Ky., treasurer. They were elected at the Council's recent annual meeting in Lexington, Ky. A new board of directors was also elected. Besides Kuegel, Travis, Henton and Warren, they are David Chappell of Sparta, Ky.; Todd Clark of Lexington, Ky.; Greg Harris of Richmond, Ky.; Al Pedigo of Scottsville, Ky.; Shane Wiseman of Winchester, Ky.; Bob James of Lexington, Ky., and Kenneth Reynolds of Abingdon, Va.

Tobacco tours coming up in the next 30 days: The S.C. Tobacco Tour starts with registration at 8:15 a.m., Tuesday, July 23, at the Tobacco Facility at the back of the Pee Dee Research and Education Center near Florence. Later, the tour will visit a farm using a wood-fired boiler for curing. The tour will end in midafternoon. For more information, contact Dewitt Gooden at 843-662-3526 or by email at  dgooden@clemson.edu.  The Virginia Tobacco Field Day will be held at the Southern Piedmont Agricultural Research & Extension Center (two miles east of Blackstone on Rt. 40) on August 6. After a dinner at 5 p.m., the field day will begin at 6 p.m., ending about 8:30 p.m. Note: A forage and livestock field day will be held August 7 starting at 9 a.m. For more information, go to Margaret Kenny at 434-292-5331 or makenny@vt.edu. The Kentucky Corn, Soybean and Tobacco Field Day will be held August 1 from 7:30 a.m. until noon at the UK Research Farm in Princeton. An irrigation forum will follow at 1:30 p.m. For more information, contact Andy Bailey at 270-365-7541, ext. 240.  Cross Creek Seed Inc. will hold a variety tour on Wednesday, August 7, starting at 9 a.m. at Seven Springs Baptist Church, 5924 NC 55 East, Seven Springs, N.C. 28578. Visitors will caravan to the nearby farm of Mack Grady and see various varieties, then will end up back at the church for lunch. You will be able to see the new variety Cross Creek is so high on: CC 143, which features good resistance to black shank (both races) and Granville wilt along with yield and grade indexes comparable or better than K 326. Call Cross Creek Seed at 877-922-7333 if you plan to attend.

BIG M TOBACCO WAREHOUSE  1723 Goldsboro St. SW, Wilson, N.C.,  in the old Liberty Warehouse    We will hold both sealed bid auctions  and live auctions.   We promise HONEST AND TRUSTWORTHY  SERVICE    For more information, contact: --Mann Mullen at 919-496-9033  --Greg Ray at  252-799-6061  or --the warehouse at 252-206-1447.  EMail: shrimpmann@embarqmail.com

New president for USTC

The U.S. Tobacco (flue-cured) Cooperative has a new board chairman. He is grower James T. (Jimmy) Hill of Kinston, N.C. It also has a new member representing South Carolina, Dwight Stephens. Both positions were held for many years by Albert Johnson of Galivants Ferry, S.C., who recently joined the staff of China Tobacco International of North America, a new division of CTIEC, the Chinese national tobacco company, to be located in the vicinity of Raleigh.