Tobacco Harvesting Starts

Source from:  The Wilson Times 07/21/2009

Todd Glover thinks his tobacco crop looks "average" this year. "The crop's a little dry but I think it looks average," said Glover, who grows tobacco in both Nash and Wilson counties. "It would help if we had a little bit more rain." Glover planted 180 acres of tobacco this year. He started the crop in April feeling pretty optimistic because he had a good stand of plants and he expected operational costs to be down some. Then things changed. Storms in April brought wind which damaged plants and Glover had to reset some of his tobacco twice, which resulted in his crop being delayed two to three weeks. Glover said he normally starts harvesting around July 4. "Normally, April tobacco weighs more than tobacco set in May," Glover said. He could end up with not as many pounds of tobacco to sell this year. The end result is less money for Glover. Glover said he's been harvesting for about a week now. He's hopeful some additional rain will fall and help fill out the leaves on the top of the stalk, which could help improve the weight issue. "The bottom of the stalk is sun baked," Glover said. "I feel like if we do get some water the top leaves will fill out." Norman Harrell, Wilson County Cooperative Extension agent, said 2009 has been another challenging year for tobacco growers. "We had a very tough April," Harrell said. Tobacco was not only damaged by wind, it was frosted on and beat by sand and hail. "Thankfully, May was a better month and the tobacco grew better," Harrell said. "We have been dry but we have received enough rain to keep the crop growing." While Glover is behind, Harrell said overall area tobacco farmers are about a week ahead of schedule from where they would normally be at this time of the season. That's because of the rain in June. Harrell said most of the farmers have started harvesting and a little bit of the crop has been cured already. No specific date has been announced yet for when the Wilson Tobacco Market will open for the season. This is the 120th year for the market. Harrell expects the market will open in early August. The latest crop report Harrell has indicates there will be approximately 9,300 acres of flue-cured tobacco grown in Wilson County this year, which represents about a 3 percent increase over last year. A little over 100 acres of burley tobacco is being grown and about 20 acres of dark air-cured tobacco was planted, too. Harrell said the weather has been the most challenging factor affecting the 2009 tobacco crop. Overall, the disease pressure has been relatively low even though some farmers have had to deal with Granville wilt and Black shank diseases. Enditem