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Business and the Economy

Burley Grower Issues in 2016

Stu Johnson
/
WEKU News

    

The number of tobacco growers in Kentucky has declined by tens of thousands over the last decade.  But, the long standing auction based sales practice has never gone away.

On Lexington's Angliana Avenue, there sits a warehouse where auction sales take place.  Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association General Manager Steve Pratt says that’s an option for growers who may have over produced.  “If you want to market your tobacco rather than leave it hanging in the barn or leave it sitting around in a bale, you have the option of taking it to the auction and being able to sell it,” said Pratt.

Pratt says auctions do not typically bring as high a price as contracted tobacco.  He says sales under contract are usually completed by the end of February while auction sales can extend into March.

As the Kentucky burley sales season moves into 2016, some growers are likely focusing on the global market.  Most burley grown in Kentucky today is contracted out to tobacco companies with much sent overseas.  Pratt says there's an over supply of tobacco worldwide.  “Growers have typically seen prices have gone down some and contracts have been cut by several companies this past year," Pratt explained. "There’s a hope that that will balance itself out and I think it’s in the stage of beginning to do that right now."

While hemp has attracted a lot of attention in Kentucky, Pratt doesn’t expect tobacco farmers to convert their entire fields to hemp anytime soon.  He says, over time, some of that transition could occur.

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