Tobacco market opens with little notice
Aug 16, 2007—The opening of the tobacco markets in Southeastern North Carolina last week went virtually unnoticed in Robeson County, according to reports in the Lumberton newspaper The Robesonian. Aside the from the contract sales at S&P Tobacco Marketing in Lumberton, the next closest receiving station in this area is 100 miles away, in Mullins, S.C. There were 5,158 acres of tobacco planted in Robeson County this year, about a third of what was being planted in the mid-1990s. That tobacco will generate about $20 million of income, which is also about a third of the tobacco revenue produced just more than a decade ago. Under the quota program, farmers owned the right to grow an allotment of tobacco each year, based on a quota set by the federal government. They were guaranteed a fair price when they took their crop to the auction houses. Now growers deal directly with the large cigarette companies. 26 growers sold their leaf at S&P Tobacco Marketing on opening day on Wednesday. Prices were between $1.20 and $1.35 per pound, on bottom lugs. Prices are expected to increase as the more desirable upper leaves come to market. A severe drought - Robeson County is about 60 percent below normal rainfall levels for this time of the year - has farmers skeptical about this season's crop. Tobacco was planted in April. Farm Service agency sources said the crop was thin – in one instance a grower needed 12 acres to get one barn of tobacco. Tom Stephenson, manager of the local warehouse, said there was no real fanfare on opening day compared with 20 years ago. There was no ceremony or visit from the state agricultural commissioner, as has been traditional. Nor was there the chant of an auctioneer. “It was more or less like a training day for our employees,” Stephenson said. “Although there is less fanfare, it's always a welcome sight when the farmers come into the facility. This is a culmination of a lot of hard work and what they do still means a lot to Robeson County.” Stephenson called this year's crop “spotty” and “dry.” “It's been a dry season, but I think the tobacco can hold out,” he said. “Water is critical though. We need some good rain to help the growers.”
Aug 16, 2007—The opening of the tobacco markets in Southeastern North Carolina last week went virtually unnoticed in Robeson County, according to reports in the Lumberton newspaper The Robesonian. Aside the from the contract sales at S&P Tobacco Marketing in Lumberton, the next closest receiving station in this area is 100 miles away, in Mullins, S.C. There were 5,158 acres of tobacco planted in Robeson County this year, about a third of what was being planted in the mid-1990s. That tobacco will generate about $20 million of income, which is also about a third of the tobacco revenue produced just more than a decade ago. Under the quota program, farmers owned the right to grow an allotment of tobacco each year, based on a quota set by the federal government. They were guaranteed a fair price when they took their crop to the auction houses. Now growers deal directly with the large cigarette companies. 26 growers sold their leaf at S&P Tobacco Marketing on opening day on Wednesday. Prices were between $1.20 and $1.35 per pound, on bottom lugs. Prices are expected to increase as the more desirable upper leaves come to market. A severe drought - Robeson County is about 60 percent below normal rainfall levels for this time of the year - has farmers skeptical about this season's crop. Tobacco was planted in April. Farm Service agency sources said the crop was thin – in one instance a grower needed 12 acres to get one barn of tobacco. Tom Stephenson, manager of the local warehouse, said there was no real fanfare on opening day compared with 20 years ago. There was no ceremony or visit from the state agricultural commissioner, as has been traditional. Nor was there the chant of an auctioneer. “It was more or less like a training day for our employees,” Stephenson said. “Although there is less fanfare, it's always a welcome sight when the farmers come into the facility. This is a culmination of a lot of hard work and what they do still means a lot to Robeson County.” Stephenson called this year's crop “spotty” and “dry.” “It's been a dry season, but I think the tobacco can hold out,” he said. “Water is critical though. We need some good rain to help the growers.”
