US: Excessive Rain Delays Some Tobacco Crops For Opening Market

Source from:  WITN 08/13/2018

The agricultural community has been devastated by the heavy rains here in Eastern North Carolina, but one commodity in particular is taking a harder hit.

The rain has finally slowed down but it might be too little too late for some in the agricultural community. Several tobacco farmers say the rain is going to hit their pockets just as hard as it has hit their fields.

Cultivating the tobacco crop is a long process for farmers who begin growing the plants in a greenhouse in February. Once they get to about a foot tall, they're planted in the fields, and tended to normally until mid July. After that they begin barning, and bailing the tobacco in preparations for the market which opens in August.

But due to the rain, farmers haven't been able to get that heavy equipment on the soft soil, and the plants are either drowning or the leaves are simply too wet to even barn. HMH Farms Tobacco Farmer Dale Dawson said, he is at least two weeks behind in production. "Drowning and you know, going away faster than you can get in the barn. And we haven't even started that yet, as a matter of a fact we're going to start that today, barning the tobacco. Usually we would have started two weeks ago but it's been non-stop rain the past two weeks and it's put us behind and stretches you out financially."

The tobacco market opens this year on August 14th.  Enditem