Area Tobacco Farmers Growing Burley

Source from:  Click-2-Listen By Brock Letchworth The Daily Reflector Saturday, August 18, 08/20/2007

Tobacco buyers can expect to see more burley crops produced in Pitt County when the market opens later this year, according to the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service. Burley crops are planted on 120 acres in the county this year, up from 88 acres produced in 2006. Flue-cured tobacco continues to be the most popular among Pitt farmers with 3,182 acres grown this year, but the number has decreased by 2 percent since 2006. A higher demand for burley worldwide is the primary reason for the crop's increased growth in Pitt, extension director Mitch Smith said. "Burley offers a very positive export picture for U.S. growers," Smith said. "It appears that Pitt County's burley may be less substitutable worldwide than what our flue-cured is. Thus, prices for burley may be a little better than flue-cured as a crop. With those combinations, you can expect to see more of a crop being grown." Burley is an air-cured crop that requires no harvesting equipment, gas or electricity. It has traditionally been more popular among farmers in western North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee, Smith said. Carl Briley of Briley and Briley Farms is one of a growing number of local farmers who have increased burley production. After harvesting three acres of burley in 2006, Briley is producing 10 acres this year. He says a growing demand led to the increase. The burley markets do not typically open until after Thanksgiving, Briley said, while the flue-cured markets have been opening up during the last couple of weeks. "There's a high demand for burley because there are not as many people growing it anymore," said Briley, who added that it takes both types of tobacco to make most buyers' products. The deterioration of barns used for storing burley and the 2004 tobacco quota buyout, where farmers were given payments in return for ending price support of tobacco, have led to a decrease in production among burley's most common producers, Briley said. Burley production has some drawbacks. The labor costs are higher and the crop does not fare as well in extreme heat, Smith said. "It's about a $1,000 cheaper per acre to grow burley, but half of your cost is in your labor," Smith said. "That may be holding the crop back some." Because burley is an air-cured crop, farmers are having trouble finding places to store it as well. Lack of storage space could prevent future growth on Briley's farm, he said, while Smith says he has seen farmers taking unique approaches to storage throughout the state. "There are some very interesting facilities being built out there," Smith said. "I've seen modified chicken houses, new structures built and old barns converted. A lot of diversity is out there in terms what farmers are doing." Despite some of the setbacks associated with burley, Smith says he expects production of the crop to keep increasing in the county. "Overall I would say there is optimism about the further expansion of the burley crop in this county," he said. "It's still very early in its production here in terms of where we are numbers wise, but growers seem to be pretty excited about it." Enditem