Area Tobacco Income Showed Growth in '06

Source from:  theleafchronicle.com By JIMMY SETTLE The Leaf-Chronicle  01/08/2007

Base income figures for agricultural commodities produced in Montgomery County remain at or near levels of about three years ago, with tobacco showing surprising income growth despite the Congressionally enacted tobacco buyout of 2004. In all, farming was a nearly $48 million enterprise in the Clarksville area last year, based on the amount of ag income collected on local farms for a variety of products ranging from dark tobacco to beef cattle, hardwood timber and row crops. The $48 million figure? which is just slightly below the 2003 Montgomery County farm income total of almost $48.2 million ?ranks the Clarksville area 15th among the state's 95 counties in agriculture. "The final numbers show that we had a pretty good year for yields," said Montgomery County Extension Agent John Bartee. Drawing from county-by-county totals calculated by the Tennessee Agricultural Statistics Service, Bartee said the post-buyout era for tobacco is the most intriguing result. Until the 1940s, Clarksville was the world's largest dark-fired tobacco market because of the vast acreage grown in Montgomery and surrounding counties, as well as the convenience of river transportation. Now, the long-term impact on the local tobacco industry from the end of a Depression-era quota and price support system remains to be seen, although it has already brought wholesale changes in the way tobacco is marketed. Gone are the days of tobacco auctions. Most farmers who have stayed in tobacco production since 2004 now have pre-arranged, direct contracts with major tobacco companies. Early indications are that many farmers are seeing the new era as an opportunity to grow more of the leaf, provided they have a good buyer relationship. The Clarksville area remains Tennessee's third-largest tobacco producer based on dollar volume. Montgomery County is second in the state in dark-fired tobacco production, generating almost $14 million on 1,575 acres last year. Dark tobacco is principally used in the production of snuff and chewing tobacco products. The county is also 15th in the state in burley tobacco, used primarily in cigarettes. The 2006 burley value for Clarksville was almost $2.1 million, harvested from a combined 480 acres. In all, tobacco farmers collected nearly $16 million in 2006. That's up from the $14.6 million earned three years ago. Considering tobacco produced here in 2005 and 2006 was sold almost entirely by corporate contracts without the government quota system of earlier years, it makes the newest bottom line all the more impressive, Bartee said. "In 2006, we probably had the highest-yielding tobacco crop that we've ever had in Montgomery County. We actually probably had a little more tobacco than before the buyout," Bartee said. "Adverse weather probably took its toll on some of it at times, but on the harvested acreage, newer varieties of tobacco seed that were introduced, plus fewer crop diseases, contributed to some producers harvesting as much as 5,000 pounds of dark tobacco per acre," he said. The second-highest ag income producer in Montgomery County is beef cattle. Last year, this community ranked 18th in the state with combined income of $8.2 million from its beef herds. Montgomery County also ranks among the state's top 10 counties in hardwood timber production, logging $7.5 million in 2006. In wheat, the county is the state's ninth-biggest producer with almost $2.1 million. The Clarksville area had the state's 10th-largest corn crop last year ?nearly $6 million worth. Bartee thinks the figure could grow even more this year amid market changes. Demand for corn is also growing nationwide with increased ethanol production. The demand could contribute to a slight shift toward more local corn production in the coming years. "Corn prices wound up being pretty high last year," Bartee said, "and next year we may see a bit of a shift from soybeans to corn. I don't know that for sure, but I wouldn't be surprised. "Right now, corn producers can contract a pretty good price." Meanwhile, Montgomery County is currently Tennessee's 18th-biggest soybean producer, accounting for nearly $4.1 million last year. Enditem