Tobacco Asia

56 tobaccoasia Issue 1, 2025 January / February By Christopher Bickers The 2024 flue-cured crop will be remembered as the crop that couldn't catch a break, says Rick Smith, president of Independent Leaf Tobacco, a leaf dealer in Wilson, NC. "It was dry, it was wet, there were hurricanes…it was one thing after another." It wasn't just that there were two hurricanes, said Steve Troxler, NC commissioner of agriculture. "It was that we already were in the middle of a disaster when they got here." The resulting yield loss was doubly unfortunate, said Troxler, because there was unusual demand for flue-cured this season. "We could have sold a lot more if we'd had it to sell," Troxler said. "I would say that we will end up with only a 60% tobacco crop [in NC]. The crop was short, Smith agreed. "Most everyone [among the buyers] came up short. I know I did. We need a barn buster next year to make up for this." The damage from Helene was nowhere near the wreckage that Debby caused. One reason is that harvest was for all practical purposes complete when Helene arrived. Some tobacco was still curing, and that caused some problems where the power went out. One side effect of the weather was that there was more of a market for pickings than usual; Moore says a lot of them went for US$1 a pound, a higher price than usual. Moore estimated that Georgia-Florida growers marketed only 55% of expected production. Flue- cured sold well at the four auction houses, which are all in central CC, says Tommy Faulkner, auction manager for American Tobacco Exchange in Wilson, NC. "The quality was good, very usable," he says. "The crop was short, by maybe 20-25%. But growers did a good job of holding their tobacco in the field until they could get it harvested." Buyers seemed pleased with what they got, and prices ranged generally from US$1.85 to US$2.55 a pound. The last auction sales took place in mid-November. There are no auctions for any other types. US 2024: A Crop That Couldn't Catch a Break Flue-cured growers took a pasting from weather events and came up short of pounds. Burley and dark growers had some bad weather too but fared better at harvest. Despite the harsh weather, much of the flue-cured crop - like this produced in Oxford, NC - turned out quite well.

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