Burley Tobacco More Trial-And-Error

Source from:  August 24,2006 ROBIN CLAYTON STAFF WRITER  08/25/2006

Many traditional farming techniques may be long gone, but tobacco growers in Eastern North Carolina are gradually experimenting with a new crop that shows potential of being comparable to the profitable harvests of the past. Cunningham Research Station is experimenting with burley tobacco for the second consecutive year. So far, says tobacco supervisor Chris Jernigan, this year's crops look good. "It's been a good year," said Jernigan, citing favorable weather conditions as an important factor. He said last year's crops were "marginal at best." "Inexperience could have had something to do with that." Burley tobacco is primarily used for cigarette production and differs from flue-cured tobacco in several ways, the most notable being in the way it's cured. Its popularity in North Carolina has increased over the last year thanks to the tobacco buyout that Congress passed in 2004. Before the buyout, tobacco farmers were guaranteed a minimum price for their crop under a 1930s-era federal program. The buyout ended that program, and many farmers took the money and ran. Others continued farming and turned to burley as a potential money-maker. Jernigan explained that flue-cured tobacco leaves are pulled from the stem and then stored in a heated barn with beginning temperatures at 90 degrees. The leaves remain in the barn until temperatures reach 160 degrees. Burley tobacco remains on the stem while it's being cured. Rather than curing in a barn, it is air-dried on burley curing racks from six to eight weeks. Curing burley tobacco involves trial-and-error, said Jernigan, and is dependent on weather conditions, while the conditions for curing flue-cured tobacco can be more controlled. Walter Adams, agriculture and natural resources technician for the Lenoir County Cooperative Extension Service, said he believes Cunningham is the only location in the county growing burley tobacco this year. Last year as many as 12 local farmers experimented with the product. "It's actually more expensive to grow than flue-cured tobacco," said Jernigan, "and it's very labor intensive." Pat Williams, director of the Lenoir County Farm Service Agency, said she thinks other factors have made farmers hesitant. "A lot of farmers have nowhere to cure it," said Williams. "Plus, a lot of them say it's too humid here." Despite their reluctance to experiment with burley tobacco, Jernigan said he thinks more farmers will eventually turn to the product as a possibility. "It's new to farmers, but I think there will be more burley tobacco grown in the future, but I don't think it will ever reach the magnitude of flue-cured tobacco," he said. Enditem