Georgia pecan, tobacco farmers eye unexpectedly good crops

Georgia’s tobacco and pecan crop are on pace for a surprisingly good year. Not surprisingly, though, above-normal temperatures have smothered the state and taken a toll on some row crops, like peanut and cotton.

Pecan trees are alternate-bearing, meaning they produce a full crop every other year. Most trees in Georgia are on the same cycle, and this was supposed to be an “off” year for pecan production. But it isn’t looking like it, said Lenny Wells, a pecan specialist with University of Georgia Cooperative Extension.

“I’m really surprised. This is the best off year in a long time,” he said.

Last year, Georgia farmers harvested 90 million pounds of pecans, a good crop for an “on” year. This off year, they’ll likely produce between 75 million and 80 million pounds, double what has been produced in other off years. The reason why isn’t clear, Wells said. Favorable spring and summer weather mixed with intense management by farmers to control diseases and insects kept trees stress-free. The colder-than-normal winter may have helped, too.

Harvest on Georgia’s 140,000 acres of pecan orchards, mostly in southwest Georgia, will start later this fall.

Changes in the way farmers market tobacco coupled with disease outbreaks have drastically reduced Georgia tobacco production in recent years. A decade ago, the state had 1,000 tobacco farmers. Less than a quarter of them remain today. But the crop turned a corner this year, said Fred Wetherington, a tobacco farmer in Lowndes County near the Florida line. Weather was good, and disease damage was minimal.

“We got the best looking crop we’ve had in 15 years or so,” Wetherington said.

Farmers planted between 10,000 and 11,000 acres this spring. Harvest is half complete.

Spring and early summer weather treated newly planted peanut and cotton plants well. But above-normal temperatures, some reaching over 100 degrees in some place, have since rocked the crops.
Last year, Georgia farmers harvested an average of 900 pounds of cotton per acre, a new state record. Records likely won’t be broken this year, said Phillip Roberts, a cotton entomologist with UGA Extension. Some areas are in mild drought. This coupled with the heat will hamper yield potential.

“The cotton crop as a whole is variable across the state, which is typical for Georgia. But we’re probably looking at more of an average crop this year compared to last,” Roberts said. “But we still have a long way to go with this crop.”

Farmers planted an estimated 1.24 million acres in Georgia this year, 25 percent more than last year, according to a recent report by the Georgia Agricultural Statistics Service. Average yields are expected to be around 850 pounds per acre, but this could be optimistic, Roberts said. Harvest will start later this fall.

The extreme heat in July and early August hurt peanut plants’ ability to set peanut pods, which grow under ground, said John Beasley, a peanut agronomist with UGA Extension. But relatively cooler temperatures in the lower 90s are helping the crop recover.

Peanut farmers last year also set an average yield record for the state at 3,530 pounds per acre. It will be tough now, Beasley said, for any yield records to be broken this year, but the potential for a good crop is still there. The average yield is now expected to be 3,300 pounds per acre, or 7 percent less than last year.

Farmers planted an estimated 550,000 acres of peanuts in late spring. Harvest will start later next month.

By Brad Haire
University of Georgia 

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Major buyer quits Georgia tobacco

In an industry slowly fading in Georgia, tobacco growers got a recent kick in the pants when their major purchaser announced it would no longer buy from them.

At a meeting in Alma, Ga., Oct. 14, Philip Morris USA announced to more than 75 growers that it would honor the three- and five-year contracts it still has with growers, as long as they meet the contracts’ requirements. But it will not give new contracts, said J. Michael Moore, tobacco specialist with University of Georgia Cooperative Extension.

The company will stop buying from Florida growers, too, essentially ending its business in the two states.

“This was no doubt a major blow. Not only to participating growers, but also to south Georgia’s economy,” said Moore, who attended the meeting.

In 1996, Georgia’s tobacco crop was worth $206 million. Last year, it was worth $57 million.

The company buys roughly half of Georgia’s crop, Moore said. The announcement affects half of the 200 to 225 tobacco growers left in the state.

Growers and industry leaders are currently trying to get the remaining three companies still buying in Georgia to buy more or persuade new companies to do business in the state, Moore said.

“We hope this is something we can overcome,” he said.

But it’s going to be a challenge.

With higher federal taxes on U.S. cigarette consumption and the Federal Drug Administration’s newfound regulatory sway over the product, companies aren’t looking to carry a big inventory of tobacco. It’s estimated that some have enough low-quality tobacco now to last them for the next decade, Moore said.

The number of tobacco growers continues to decline in Georgia. There were around 350 two years ago. In 2004, there were 1,000.

That same year, the federal government ended its Depression-era tobacco quota program at the growers' request. It provided price support but restricted how much they could grow and where. Growers and quota owners were compensated for the end of the program. They now can grow as much tobacco as they feel they need to fill contracts.

Filling those contracts was a challenge this year in Georgia, where disease and wet, stormy weather hit springtime planting and summer harvest hard. Of the 15,000 acres planted, Moore said, 1,700 acres or more were lost.

According to the Georgia Agricultural Statistics Service, Georgia’s average yield this year is 1,500 pounds per acre, or 600 pounds per acre less than last year. This is the lowest average yield ever recorded in the state.

The decision to grow tobacco in Georgia has become harder and harder for growers to make in recent years, Moore said. Many have sold their tobacco-related equipment, which can’t be used for any other crop.

Canadian growers are looking to get back into the tobacco business, calling down their interest to buy good equipment. If a Georgia grower is too uncertain about next year’s crop, he said, they may want to think about selling equipment while they can get a good price for it.

By Brad Haire
University of Georgia

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Georgia tobacco yields worst in decades

Volatile spring weather and diseases have left Georgia’s tobacco crop hurting, as farmers prepare to harvest what could be their worst yields in decades, says a University of Georgia tobacco specialist.

Earlier this spring, farmers had one of the toughest times in recent memory just trying to get the tobacco crop securely planted, said J. Michael Moore, a tobacco expert with UGA Cooperative Extension. Repeated rain deluges of five and six inches across south Georgia, where the crop is grown, washed away planting beds, chemicals, plants and delayed planting all together.

“There were a lot of headaches just getting started this year,” he said.

Farmers eventually planted 15,000 acres by May 1, he said. Then came more rain followed by a hot, dry June. Then the diseases hit -- hard.

Tobacco’s deadliest foe is tomato spotted wilt virus, which is carried by tiny insects called thrips. Over the past few years, it has infected 15 percent of the plants. This year, as much as 30 percent of plants statewide have shown symptoms of the disease. Many plants have died and yields have been reduced, he said.

The increased damage from TSWV this year was likely due to the weather. “We know there is a relation to the type of weather we had and this disease pressure,” Moore said. “But at this point we don’t know exactly what that relation is.”

Due to the excessive rain, two other diseases called target spot and white mold also caused problems for farmers, he said.

Of the 15,000 acres planted, Moore said, 1,700 acres were lost either to extreme rain or disease. Due to weather- and disease-related problems, tobacco yields are expected to average 1,700 pounds per acre, or 400 pounds per acre less than last year. This is the lowest average yield since 1973.

In total, Georgia farmers are expected to harvest 23.8 million pounds of tobacco this year, or 29 percent less than last year. Harvest will start in the next two weeks, a month behind the typical schedule.

The number of tobacco farmers continues to decline in Georgia. Today, only 200 actively grow the crop. There were around 350 two years ago.

In 2004, Georgia had 1,000 tobacco farmers. That same year, the federal government ended its Depression-era tobacco quota program at the farmers' request. It provided price support but restricted how much tobacco farmers could grow and where. Farmers and quota owners were compensated for the end of the program.

Farmers now can grow as much tobacco as they feel they need to fill contracts they get directly from cigarette manufactures or marketing companies. For decades, south Georgia has been a place to get sweet-flavored, aromatic tobacco, the kind manufacturers add to tobacco blends to improve taste.

But delivering quality tobacco this year will be hard for Georgia, Moore said. And making any profit will be, too.

Tobacco quality is graded on a scale from 1 to 4, with No. 1 being the best, which has golden leaves and no blemishes. Most companies now only want No. 1- or No. 2-graded tobacco. They have enough of the No. 3 and No. 4 in storage to use for the next 15 years, he said.

“Growers are concerned that the companies are no longer seeing south Georgia as a reliable region for quality tobacco,” he said. “There is a demand for this style of tobacco, and there will continue to be. But it’s critical for us to produce the tobacco in this area to keep the market.”

For now, the remaining farmers are cobbling together a tobacco-growing industry in Georgia, scavenging from old, abandoned equipment to fix equipment currently in use.

“I’d hate to be a dealer trying to sell any tobacco-related equipment today,” Moore said. “Nobody has the money to buy anything new.”

By Brad Haire
University of Georgia

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FDA Seeks Public Input on Tobacco Regulation

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today that it is seeking public input on the implementation of its historic new authority overseeing tobacco products in the United States. In a Federal Register notice, the agency invites the public to provide information and share views on a wide range of topics, from product content to advertising and marketing. All public comments will be posted online.

"We're interested in receiving input from across the country as the FDA begins to implement this important new authority intended to reduce the enormous toll of suffering and death caused by tobacco products in the United States," said Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, Commissioner of Food and Drugs. "We look forward to the public's response."

The Federal Register notice can be viewed at: http://www.federalregister.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2009-15549_PI.pdf.

For more information about the FDA and tobacco regulation, see: http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/PublicHealthFocus/ucm168412.htm.

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Tobacco Use Will Continue, Possibly Grow, during Recession, Georgia State Expert Says

Even though tobacco use is expected to kill 6 million people worldwide and drain $500 billion from the global economy each year — according to a new report co-authored by a Georgia State University tobacco expert — the recession will most likely do nothing to reduce use.

The third edition of The Tobacco Atlas, co-authored by Michael Eriksen, director of Georgia State’s Institute of Public Health, lays out a comprehensive picture of global tobacco use, regulations, financial costs and health tolls.

The new edition of the atlas was launched this week in Mumbai, India. Eriksen’s work and travel is sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

In an economic downturn, products seen as giving comfort in the midst of stress tend to sell very well. In the U.S. and abroad, tobacco is no exception.

“It’s not well understood, but as people lose jobs, the unemployed and others affected by tough economic times may rely on ‘affordable pleasures,’” Eriksen said. “The irony is that the more deprived someone is, people will rely on simple pleasures that are unfortunately deadly pleasures.”

Since the last edition of the atlas was released in 2006, changes in issues around global tobacco use have been a mixed bag, Eriksen said.

Positive changes include the relatively rapid ratification of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the world's first public health treaty developed by the World Health Organization. The treaty obligates signatories to commit to actions such as advertising bans and indoor clean air laws to stem tobacco use, illness and death. Excluding the United States, 163 nations have ratified the treaty.

Another positive outcome has been the $500 billion investment by Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg’s philanthropic activities in tobacco control.

On the other hand, tobacco companies since 2006 have been able to adapt to changes, and continue to profit from a preventable cause of illness and death, to the tune of $30 billion in profits.

"At one level, they have figured out how to work in a new regulatory environment," Eriksen said, "and on another level, there are active attempts to undermine nations' attempts to fulfill their obligations around the treaty.”

Eriksen, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office on Smoking and Health, co-authored the work with Omar Shafey, medical anthropologist and adjunct professor of global health at Emory University; Hana Ross, economist and strategic director of international tobacco control research at the American Cancer society; and Dr. Judith Mackay (MD), fellow of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of Edinburgh and London and policy advisor to the World Health Organization.

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Emory Receives $14 Million Gates Foundation Grant to Reduce Tobacco Use in China

Emory University has received a $14 million, five-year grant from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help reduce the burden of tobacco use in China. The Emory Global Health Institute, in collaboration with the Tobacco Technical Assistance Consortium (TTAC) of Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health, will establish the Emory Global Health Institute – China Tobacco Partnership.

The Emory Global Health Institute will manage the partnership, which will collaborate with public health leaders in China to promote evidence-based approaches to reducing tobacco use that are tailored to the culture and circumstances of individual cities and provinces in China. The Emory Global Health Institute will also provide funding and support to establish national tobacco control resource centers in China.

"This grant will allow Emory to combine its significant public health expertise with that of health and government leaders in China to address a major international public health challenge," says Fred Sanfilippo, MD, PhD, Emory executive vice president for health affairs.

"Tobacco is the largest cause of preventable deaths globally and China has the most smokers in the world. There is a huge opportunity in this project to have a major impact on global health," says Jeffrey Koplan, MD, MPH, Emory vice president for global health and director of the Emory Global Health Institute.

Koplan will serve as principal investigator of the grant and will lead the partnership along with Pamela Redmon, MPH, executive director of TTAC, a nationally recognized tobacco control leader and technical assistance provider in the United States.

Co-principal investigators for the partnership will be Kathy Miner, PhD, MPH, associate dean of applied public health at Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health and principal investigator of TTAC and Michael Eriksen, ScD, a noted expert in national and global tobacco control efforts and director of the Institute of Public Health at Georgia State University.

Nearly two-thirds of the world's smokers live in 10 countries, with China having the highest tobacco use prevalence by far, according to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2008). Also according to WHO (2003), there are more smokers in China than there are people living in the United States. In China, two-thirds of men are smokers, and it is estimated that 100 million tobacco-related deaths will occur among people currently age 0-29 if tobacco prevention and control efforts are not implemented (Leming, et. al, Health VII Project, 2004).

Not only does China have the largest population of smokers, it also is the chief producer of tobacco products in the world. The national tobacco monopoly is the leading manufacturer and seller of cigarettes, earning billions in tobacco profits and excise tax revenues (WHO, 2003).

According to research reported recently in the New England Journal of Medicine (Gu, et. al, Jan. 8, 2009), tobacco smoking was responsible for about 673,000 premature deaths in Chinese adults age 40 or older in 2005.

The Emory Global Health Institute – China Tobacco Partnership will support the development of effective, accountable and sustainable tobacco prevention and control initiatives that address China’s unique needs and challenges. The program will be able to quickly and efficiently identify and mobilize global resources to assist China in reducing tobacco use.

The Emory Global Health Institute was established to advance Emory University’s efforts to improve health around the world through the creation of innovative global health programs. The TTAC, a trusted partner and collaborator with national tobacco control organizations, has developed and delivered training and assistance to all 50 states and the U.S. territories.

The Emory Global Health Institute – China Tobacco Partnership will coordinate and collaborate with the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CCD) Office on Smoking and Health. The program's advisory board will include representatives from Emory, Georgia State, ACS and CDC.

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National Report Ranks Georgia 50th in Protecting Kids from Tobacco

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Ten years after the November 1998 state tobacco settlement, Georgia ranks 50th in the nation in funding programs to protect kids from tobacco, according to a national report released today by a coalition of public health organizations.

Georgia currently spends $3.2 million a year on tobacco prevention programs, which is 2.7 percent of the $116.5 million recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Other key findings for Georgia include:
-- The tobacco companies spend more than $444 million a year on marketing
in Georgia. This is 139 times what the state spends on tobacco
prevention.
-- Georgia this year will collect $393 million from the tobacco
settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend less than 1 percent of it
on tobacco prevention.


The annual report on states' funding of tobacco prevention programs, titled "A Decade of Broken Promises," was released by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Lung Association and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

"Georgia is one of the most disappointing states when it comes to funding programs to protect kids from tobacco," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "On this 10th anniversary of the tobacco settlement, we call on Georgia's leaders to raise the state cigarette tax and use some of the new revenue to increase funding for tobacco prevention. Tobacco prevention is a smart investment that reduces smoking, saves lives and saves money by reducing tobacco-related health care costs."

Georgia's current cigarette tax of 37 cents per pack is 43rd in the nation and well below the national average of $1.19 per pack. Scientific studies have found that increasing cigarette prices is one of the most effective ways to prevent kids from smoking and encourage smokers to quit.

On Nov. 23, 1998, 46 states settled their lawsuits against the nation's major tobacco companies to recover tobacco-related health care costs, joining four states (Mississippi, Texas, Florida and Minnesota) that had reached earlier settlements. These settlements require the tobacco companies to make annual payments to the states in perpetuity, with total payments estimated at $246 billion over the first 25 years. The states also collect billions of dollars each year in tobacco taxes.

The new report finds that most states have broken their promise to use a significant portion of their tobacco money to fund programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit.

According to the report, the states in the last 10 years have received $203.5 billion in revenue from the tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes. But they have spent only 3.2 percent of this tobacco money - $6.5 billion - on tobacco prevention and cessation programs.

Other findings of the report include:
-- In the current year, no state is funding tobacco prevention at
CDC-recommended levels, and only nine states fund their programs at
even half of the CDC recommendation.
-- 41 states and the District of Columbia are funding tobacco prevention
programs at less than half the CDC-recommended amount. These include
27 states that are providing less than a quarter of the recommended
funding.
-- Total funding for state tobacco prevention programs this year, $718.1
million, amounts to less than three percent of the $24.6 billion the
states will collect from the tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes. It
would take just 15 percent of this tobacco revenue to fund tobacco
prevention programs in every state at CDC-recommended levels.


The report warns that the nation faces two immediate challenges in the fight against tobacco use: complacency and looming state budget shortfalls. First, while the nation has made significant progress over the past decade in reducing smoking, progress has slowed and further progress is at risk without aggressive efforts at all levels of government. Second, the states are expected to face budget shortfalls in the coming year as a result of the weak economy. The last time the states faced significant budget shortfalls, they cut funding for tobacco prevention programs by 28 percent between 2002 and 2005. The cutbacks are a major reason why smoking declines subsequently stalled, and states should not make the same mistake again.

The report found that there is more evidence than ever that tobacco prevention programs work to reduce smoking, save lives and save money by reducing tobacco-related health care costs. Washington State, which has been a national leader in funding tobacco prevention, has reduced smoking by 60 percent among sixth graders and by 43 percent among 12th graders since the late 1990s. A recent study found that California's tobacco control program saved $86 billion in health care costs in its first 15 years, compared to $1.8 billion spent on the program, for a return on investment of nearly 50:1.

In Georgia, 18.6 percent of high school students smoke, and 11,300 more kids become regular smokers every year. Each year, tobacco claims 10,300 lives and costs the state $2.25 billion in health care bills.

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New Report Estimates More than 2 million Cases of Tobacco-related Cancers Diagnosed in the United States During 1999-2004

About 2.4 million cases of tobacco-related cancers were diagnosed in the United States from 1999 to 2004, with lung and bronchial cancer accounting for almost half of these diagnoses, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In the most comprehensive assessment to date, the study marks the first time CDC has reported on all tobacco-related cancers for more than 90 percent of the population.

“The data in this report provides additional, strong evidence of the serious harm related to tobacco,” said Sherri Stewart, Ph.D., in CDC′s Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, who is lead author of the study. “We′ve long known tobacco was associated with lung and laryngeal cancer, but this study gives us even greater clarity. The rates for these two cancers were highest in areas with the highest prevalence of tobacco use.”

The Surgeon General has found tobacco use causes these cancers: lung and bronchial, laryngeal, oral cavity and pharyngeal, esophageal, stomach, pancreatic, kidney and renal pelvis, urinary bladder, cervical and acute myelogenous leukemia (AML).

Though tobacco is a major cause for all the cancers presented in this report, not all cases of cancer studied could be linked directly to tobacco use. Some of these cancers have several important risk factors such as infections or genetic factors that can operate in concert with, or independently, of tobacco. In addition, information on tobacco use was not available in these databases. Therefore, some cases of cancer included in this report may not be attributable to tobacco use.
Key Findings:

Age-adjusted rates are presented in parentheses where appropriate and are per 100,000 persons.

* The incidence of tobacco-related cancers was higher among black and non-Hispanic populations, and among men, which reflect patterns of tobacco use.
* Lung, laryngeal, and cervical cancer incidence rates were highest in the South, where the highest prevalence of smoking exists. Kentucky had the highest rates of lung cancer among men and women (133.2 and 75.5, respectively), the third highest rate of laryngeal cancers among men (9.7) and the highest rate of laryngeal cancer among women (2.6). Kentucky had the highest prevalence of current smoking (28.6 percent).
* States with the lowest smoking rates are in the West: Utah (10.4 percent), California (18.5 percent), and Montana (18.5 percent). Cancer incidence rates were consistently lowest in the West for all the cancers, with the exception of stomach cancer.
* In 2004, lung and bronchial cancer incidence rates were highest among men in the South (97.9) and lowest in the West (66.0); Among women, rates were similar in the South, Midwest, and Northeast regions (55.3–56.4) and were lowest in the West (48.1)
* In 2004, laryngeal cancer incidence rates were highest among men in the South (8.4) region of the United States and lowest in the West (4.8). Among women, rates were similar in the South, Midwest, and Northeast (1.6–1.7) and were lowest in the West (1.1).
* The high incidence rates of both lung and laryngeal cancer in the South are consistent with smoking patterns and reflect the strong association of these cancers with tobacco use.

The report also noted other cancers associated with tobacco use (pancreas, urinary bladder, esophagus, kidney, stomach, cervix, and AML) accounted for more than 1 million cases diagnosed.

“Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of disease and premature death in the United States and the most prominent cause of cancer,” said Matthew McKenna, M.D., M.P.H., director, CDC′s Office on Smoking and Health. “The tobacco-use epidemic causes a third of the cancers in America. If proven strategies were fully implemented to decrease tobacco use, much of the suffering and death that cancer inflicts on families and communities could be prevented.”

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