DARK CONTRACTS ARE DOWN BUT FLUE NUMBERS ARESTABLE

 



Daniel Green, executive of the Burley Stabilization cooperative, and Will Snell of the University of Kentucky, were speakers at the recent Burley and Dark Tobacco Producers meeting in Bowling Green, Ky.

There will be at least as many acres of flue-cured this year as last in Georgia and Florida, says J. Michael Moore, Extension tobacco specialist for those two states. “We appreciate the higher level of contracting among buyers,” says Moore. “It probably reflects interest in this crop from China.” Input strategy for 2014: Shop early for supply, then look for low prices, says Moore. Georgians expect to go to field around April 7, a little earlier than usual. But that should be enough to gain some benefits in tomato spotted control. Black shank is a scary prospect for flue-cured growers who want to grow the old standard variety K-326. But Ben Teal of Patrick, S.C., says if you can get it on fresh land, 326 is still an excellent choice. Besides good management characteristics, it produces well on sandy land, he says. He has an advantage since he farms in a part of the tobacco belt in S.C., that has experienced a lot of attrition in recent years. So it is relatively easy to find land for rotation…Teal has used exclusively mechanical harvest for several years and is unlikely to change unless there is some improvement in the availability/cost of labor. It looks like the dark types will be way down in planting this spring. “It appears that there will be considerable reduction in contracting of dark air-cured and dark fire-cured,” says Andy Bailey, Kentucky-Tennessee Extension dark specialist. Dark wrapper types may take the place of some standard dark plantings. Some burley may also return to the Black Patch because the price differential favors it. Bad weather on January 18 reduced the expected turnout at the Kentucky-Tennessee Burley and Dark Producers (BDTPA) association annual meeting in Bowling Green. Worse yet, because of impeded travel, the panel on tobacco labor in 2024 had to be postponed until the association’s February board meeting. But 25 or 30 farmers were able attend, and some good ideas were exchanged, says Joe Cain, the association’s executive secretary. In other news from the meeting:   It’s been decided that BDTPA (which is one year old) and the longstanding Council for Burley Tobacco will be brought under the same umbrella later this year. They had been separate.   New board members are Chris Walker from near Murray, Ky., and John Henning of Breckenridge County, Kentucky. Walker grows burley and dark and Henning grows burley. GAP TRAINING MEETINGS: For information, call GAP at 865.622.4606, or email  GAP Connection Training Calendar https://shop. gapconnections. com/meetings/calendar or contact your local Extension office. All meetings are in English.

MAXIMIZE YOUR VARIETIES

 

Challenge for 2024 HOW TO MAXIMIZE YOUR VARIETIES The number of new, improved varieties has drastically increased in the last few years, particularly for flue-cured. Now, Extension specialists recommend that you treat these varieties like an arsenal in 2024 and arm yourself with as many that fit your needs. There could be several. In North Carolina, there will be eight to 10 varieties that will each account for five percent or more of the total crop this year, says Matthew Vann, N.C. Extension tobacco specialist. “High yield and a good disease package will still be important, but some varieties may be chosen mainly for agronomic characteristics.” Vann thinks NC 960 could be a frequent choice this season due to the good experiences of farmers who planted it last year, which was effectively its first season. In Georgia, J. Michael Moore, Georgia Extension tobacco specialist, thinks NC 960 could work out well also, along with NC 1226, thanks to their outstanding black shank resistance (see the January I issue of TFN.) He suggested then that disease resistant varieties might be a better choice than chemicals for control of diseases this year. In the Southside of Virginia, Stephen Barts, Extension agent in Pittsylvania County, Va., says PVH 2310 and K326 may fit in where rotations are good. In South Carolina, William Hardee, Extension tobacco specialist, says variety decisions should be made on a "per field" basis. He hopes that his farmers have utilized good record keeping to keep track of problem fields. He also recommended spreading the crop throw out by maturity. REPORT FROM OVERSEAS BRAZIL: Weather has reduced flue-cured yield 20.5%. All tobacco-growing areas in the south of Brazil were severely affected by weather conditions, according to a mid December report from the Kohltrade leaf company. In addition to hail, excessive rain has diminished quality. There are spots on the leaves due to the roots drowning in excess rain. Farmers were forced to harvest wet fields, and as a consequence, limited curing capacity will produce a higher percentage of mahoganies. Among the two major types: Flue-cured--Planted area is up, but the average yield in southern Brazil is estimated to be 20.5 percent lower compared to average crops. Weather patterns are not expected to get better as the season ends, so total green flue-cured volume should be around 475,000 tons. Burley--Weather conditions like the flue-cured area experienced are causing plants with weaker rooting systems to drop in the fields. This has forced farmers to collect and hang underdeveloped plants. Many farmers report leaves are rotting in the barns. The negative impact on green volume is over 20%, and it is estimated that Brazilian production will be around 39,000 tons. Lower yields will affect factory performance. Report on the early market: Small traders had begun purchasing the new crop by mid December at an inflated price. The overall quality of the lower stalk is reportedly poor due to the frequent inclusion of house-burned leaves, which farmers did not appear to be separating out in the grading process….Reason for optimism?: In Brazil, rainy crops often result in a good-quality upper stalk. That may happen this year--alkaloid tests in early areas are showing lower nicotine levels, as was hoped…In December, some companies began purchasing flue-cured, while others began purchasing burley as early as November. The cost of green products is expected to rise by 5 to 8%.   DATES TO REMEMBER Southern Farm Show, January 31 through February 2, N.C. State Fairgrounds in Raleigh, starting at 9 a.m. each day. Admission is free. Annual Meeting, Tobacco Growers Association of North Carolina, 10 a.m., Friday, February 2, at the N.C. State Fairgrounds in Raleigh. A GAP training session will take place immediately afterward. GAP TRAINING MEETINGS: For information, call GAP at 865.622.4606, or email arochkes@gapconnections.com or contact your local Extension office. All meetings are in English.

THE SEEDING SEASON BEGINS

 

Seeding trays in Georgia last week. SEEDING SEASON BEGINS Some greenhouses have already been seeded in Georgia. But J. Michael Moore, Georgia Extension tobacco specialist, considers now is too early, by quite a bit. “I prefer waiting till later in January to supply transplants after April 7, after the end of the first flight of thrips, which has proven an effective strategy for re-ducing tomato spotted wilt. Patience will definitely work in your favor.”   How to cut greenhouse heat: You may be able to cut the heating bill for your greenhouse by delaying seeding until after the coldest weather of January and still have plants ready for transplanting in early April, says Moore. “You can reduce your gas bill significantly this way,” he says. “When you need heat, you need it, but there is certainly no need to heat more than necessary.”   Issues with Orondis for black shank control in Georgia in 2023? “There were instances of injury after application of the premix in the transplant water,” says Moore. One way of lessening the problem: “Apply Orondis and Ridomil in the transplant water as the co-pack of the products rather than a premix,” he says.   Varieties versus chemicals? It might be time to rely more on black shank varieties than on chemical control. In Georgia, two relatively new flue-cured varieties might help. “NC 1226 and NC 960 have outstanding black shank resistance and could fit in pretty well here,” says Moore.   Don’t get ahead of yourself with your greenhouse fertilizer. Some farmers have gotten in the habit of making their initial greenhouse application as late as four weeks after seeding, says Matthew Vann, N.C. Extension tobacco specialist. “Excellent transplants are best obtained from an initial ap­plication of fertilizer to supply 100 to 150 ppm of nitrogen within seven days after seeding plus a second application to supply 100 ppm nitrogen four weeks later,” he says.   Will broadleaf bow out in the Black Patch of western Kentucky and north central Tennessee? At the peak of Connecticut broadleaf planting a few years ago, the Black Patch produced perhaps 1,000 acres of the type, says Andy Bailey, Kentucky/Tennessee Extension dark specialist. Acreage last year might have only reached 300 acres. Overall, the yield was good for this type, says Bailey, from at least 1,800 pounds per acre to perhaps 2,000, for a total of perhaps 600 thousand pounds. Unfortunately, the percentage of wrappers was low, and profitability on this type is completely dependent on the amount of wrapper/binder grades produced. Growers producing Connecticut Broadleaf tobacco should strive for at least 50% wrapper/binder grades, but many growers got much less than that. “I have been told by many that the 2023 crop is the last Connecticut crop they will plant.” DATES TO REMEMBER 51st Tobacco Workers' Conference, January 15 – 18, at the Convention Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. For more information, go to the official website at www.twconference.com. Annual Meeting, KT Burley & Dark Tobacco Producer Association /The Council for Burley Tobacco, January 18, at Sloan Convention Center. Bowling Green, Kentucky. 9 a.m.--3:45 p.m. Central Time. Southern Farm Show, January 31 through February 2, N.C. State Fairgrounds in Raleigh, starting at 9 a.m. each day. Admission is free. Annual Meeting, Tobacco Growers Association of North Carolina, 10 a.m., Friday, February 2, at the N.C. State Fairgrounds in Raleigh. GAP TRAINING MEETINGS BEGAN THIS WEEK. For information, call GAP at 865.622.4606, or email arochkes@gapconnections.com or contact your local Extension office. All meetings are in English.

Above: A tornado ravaged the processing facilities of the Burley Stabilization Corporation in Springfield, Tn., on December 8.  LAST IMPRESSION OF 2023 TOBACCO: ALL MAJOR TYPES CAME UP SHORT The quality of 2023 flue-cured was very good. "Every pile offered for sale was sound usable tobacco, very desirable leaf," says Rick Smith, president of Independent Leaf Tobacco, a leaf dealer in Wilson, N.C. “Unfortunately, there is not enough of it. We are 50 million pounds short of the anticipated volume.” As a result, the price was strong. “There were a lot of dollars chasing not enough volume.”   The secondary market price was especially good, says Smith, who buys at the N.C. auctions. “The average was only a little short of the contract price,” says Smith. “I am not sure what the average ended up being, but it held pretty well up till the end: The last pile I saw sold went for $2.25.” The quality of the N.C. flue-cured crop seems to have appeqaled to buyers. "We had plenty of orange leaf," says Matthew Vann, N.C. Extension tobacco specialist. "But there wasn't a lot of bright leaf, so manufactures loooking for that may have been disappointed." A good bit of the burley crop has been delivered to its buyers, says Joe Cain, the executive director of the new Kentucky Burley & Dark Tobacco Producers Association. "The quality is decent, though we don’t have the color we really wanted. But the curing situation of a few weeks ago has improved thanks to weather conditions. We have had some rain. A few farmers are leaving their tobacco in the  barn longer than usual to help get the color. The dark types of the Black Patch had a production shortfall too.  There was a lot of angular leafspot (ALS). Some of the dark fire-cured crop here never got harvested due to ALS damage. “Some that did get harvested shouldn't have,” says Extension tobacco specialist Andy Bailey “I would estimate fields that were a complete loss and not harvested amounted to at least 30%. There was maybe another 25% that was obviously damaged but still harvested.” Dark fire-cured is much more vulnerable to ALS than darkair0cured. Burley and Connecticut broadleaf are rarely affected by it. Variety choice doesn’t help much with ALS, says Bailey. “Some varieties do better than others, but none are resistant. And some of the more tolerant varieties are highly vulnerable to black shank.”But there is one situation where a variety might help with ALS. “If you want to plant dark in a field with none or very low black shank, PD7309 might be a good strategic choice against ALS. It fares reasonably well in the presence of ALS. But it has no resistance to Race One black shank, although it is resistant to Race zero.” Don’t take a chance with a field with any history of black shank. You may not see ALS every year but if you have black shank, you are going to see it almost every year.” The quality of N.C. flue-cured seems to have appealed to buyers. "We had plenty of orange leaf," says Matthew Vann, N.C. Extension tobacco specialist. "But there wasn't a lot of bright leaf, so manufactures looking for that may have been slightly disappointed." There is one new flue-cured variety for 2024, he says. It’s PVH 1940, and it’s early and fast ripening. A tight burley supply situation became tighter when a thunderous tornado struck the Burley Stabilization Corporation's central facility in Springfield, Tn. The offices and receiving warehouse were largely destroyed leaving much of the tobacco in the warehouse subject to the elements. But the farmers got one small bit of good fortune: This tornado was not accompanied by torrential rains as one normally expects and in fact there was no rain for several days thereafter. So the cooperative was able to save some of the leaf, although a report is yet to come.  Hats off to BSC: Within three days, they had rerouted deliveries aimed for the Springfield receiving station to the station in Glasgow, Ky., so farmers would not experience long delays in selling their leaf. That is not an unalloyed blessing since some of the Springfield farmers are quite some distance from Glasgow. BSC leaders hope to have Springfield functioning again in time for next season’s market opening. Meet new specialists at winter county meetings: In the Virginia meetings, a new molecular assay will be introduced, which will, when it’s fully functional, be able to identify high and low black shank pathogen levels in soil. Virginia’s still-new Extension tobacco pathologist, Zeng Yuan , will make the presentation. She has been part of the staff for 15 months. In North Carolina, the new Extension tobacco pathologist, Daisy Ahumada (will tell about the new formulation of Orondis that may help in black shank control. She joined the NCSU staff in June. DATES TO REMEMBER 51st Tobacco Workers' Conference, January 15 – 18, at the Convention Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. For more information, go to the official website at www.twconference.com. Southern Farm Show, January 31 through February 2, N.C. State Fairgrounds in Raleigh, starting at 9 a.m. each day. Admission is free.  Annual Meeting, Tobacco Growers Association of North Carolina, 10 a.m., Friday, February 2, at the N.C. State Fairgrounds in Raleigh.