Organic Tobacco Growing has 50s Feel

Source from:  June 12, 2008 MCT REGIONAL NEWS By Eddie Fitzgerald 08/27/2008

Bill Harrell is trying something a little different on his farm this season. He is growing organic tobacco, and he is working harder at it than he has to for a regular crop of tobacco. Harrell said he decided to grow organic tobacco on 2.5 acres off of Good News Church Road in the Saratoga area to see if it was profitable. He gets a better price for organic tobacco compared to regular tobacco grown with non-organic fertilizer, sucker control chemicals and pesticides, but it is a very labor-intense crop, he said. Most of the work on the crop has to be done by hand, like plucking the suckers off instead of using chemicals. The only chemicals allowed on organic tobacco is one brand of insecticide that has been approved for organic products, he said. "It is a lot like what growing tobacco might have been in the 1950s," Harrell said. "You basically just set it out and apply organic fertilizer." One criteria for planting organic tobacco is no chemicals or commercial fertilizers can be used in the field for at least three years prior to the first organic crop, Harrell said. "We had a couple of fields that have not had any crops on them in three years," he said. "We thought of planting organic strawberries on it, but we never got around to it." Harrell, who also grows pesticide residue clean tobacco for Santa Fe Tobacco Co. and 225 acres of non-organic tobacco, said the opportunity came up to grow organic tobacco for the same company. "Whether it is more profitable remains to be seen," Harrell said. "They are paying more for it. But whether it is more profitable or not is why I only planted two and half acres. There is a lot of hand work you have to do in this tobacco." Norman Harrell, Wilson County extension agent, said Harrell, no relation, is the only farmer he knows who is growing certified organic tobacco in the county. There is about 500 to 1,000 acres of pesticide residue clean tobacco grown in the county, he said. "Organic production falls under very strict guidelines," Norman Harrell said. "It doesn't necessarily mean it is a healthier product. It just means it is grown under those guidelines and the tobacco goes into organic cigarettes that some customers prefer." Although a farmer can make more money from organic tobacco, it takes that premium to grow the crop, Harrell said. "It is a lot more difficult to manage," he said. Organic tobacco will only be a minor part of the county's total production of tobacco and only serves a speciality market, Harrell said. "But as long as customers are wanting it produced and they are willing to pay a premium for that, we can try to produce it," he said Mike Little, senior vice president of operations for Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co., said the organic process in not really about the tobacco product. "We are really trying to sell the fact of maintaining sustainable agriculture," Little said. "It is really about the land, the environment and the farm. ...We have about 40 growers in North Carolina, and we are working with them to diversify into other organic projects, like tomatoes, cotton and wheat. The whole intent is to promote sustainable agriculture." Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co., has been attempting to grow organic tobacco since 1989, Little said. "In the early years, it was very hard to convince tobacco farmers to grow organically, partly because they had large allotments then and they were growing all the tobacco they wanted." But in 1996 the company moved its operations section to Oxford and became more aggressive at increasing its organic poundage. This season the company is hoping to take in 1.5 million pounds of organic tobacco, Little said. About 85 percent of organic tobacco is being produced in North Carolina and the rest in southern Virginia, Little said. The company produces a "roll-your-own" pouch of organic tobacco and two styles of organic cigarettes with no additives or flavoring, Little said. "It is a pretty intense process (to grow organic tobacco)," he said. "Now the USDA oversees all organic production in the United States. We certify the land it is grown on and the methodology used to grow it, like no chemicals. Even the factory and the stemers, like Alliance One in Wilson that thrashes our tobacco, has to be certified. From seed to the final product it is put under a microscope." United Tobacco Co. in Wilson supplies the organic tobacco to Alliance, Little said. Eddie Norton, leaf manager at United Tobacco Company, said that processing company takes in a small amount of organic tobacco from about three or four farmers from Franklin, Nash and Wilson counties. "The farmers who have been growing it over the years are pretty happy with it," Norton said. "I think, with the tobacco industry, anything that is beneficial to the health situation may be good." Although Norton said he didn't think any tobacco was actually healthy, the organic tobacco has no residues or chemicals in it. "I think there could be a future for it," he said. Enditem