Fewer tobacco growers planning summer crop in Horry County

With the first day of Spring nearly two weeks away, area tobacco farmers are praying for more rain to produce a good crop in 2012 after a devastating growing season last year.
But growers are leery of Mother Nature’s intentions to withhold precious rainfall this year, so some are installing costly irrigation systems or reducing the acreage they’re planting.
“It’s still dry. I hope we get a good season. We’ve had a bad one,” said William Johnson, who cultivates about 400 acres of tobacco along with hundreds of acres of corn, soybeans wheat and peanuts on his family’s farm between Conway and Aynor. “We cut back a little bit from last year. Last year was a bad year all the way around.”

Johnson and other Horry County farmers are raising their tobacco seedlings in greenhouses preparing them to be put in the ground for the summer crop.
Moderate drought conditions forced many area growers to reduce their plans this year because of a puny crop last season.
So far this year, weather forecasters said the area is 3.87 inches of rainfall behind the average, according to the National Weather Service in Wilmington, N.C. As of the last day of February last year the area had received 5.91 inches of rain compared to 3.24 inches so far this year.
But last year, forecasters reported that the area had a 19.08 inch deficit of rainfall for the year.
“I know we’ve lost at least 1,000 acres of tobacco to be planted for this year. It was such a tough year last year for the farmers. It’s so iffy and we’ve had no rain to say we’ll get a decent crop,” said Vicki Jordan, county executive director for the Horry County Farm Service Agency. “They’re spending money and mortgaging everything to try to keep the farm going.”
Mack Junior Rabon is going the extra mile this season by installing an irrigation pivot for 200 acres of his tobacco and corn in Horry County.
“We need some water in these swamps and get the water table built back up. It’s making me nervous,” Rabon said Wednesday morning. “I hope it helps. I’ve run the numbers and talked to too many people so I know it’s going to help.”
Rabon started last summer submitting the necessary paperwork for the system to state and local regulation agencies.
“They’re taking the chance and we’ve got a few who can put in the irrigation systems, which will help the crop. But it is time consuming and expensive,” Jordan said. “There are no grants, they’re taking it on themselves. They’re mortgaging everything.”
Johnson said he heard about Rabon’s venture with the irrigation system, but he’s not ready to make such a jump.
“I hope for good growing weather. A good season and I hope tobacco companies buy this crop,” Johnson said and noted that tobacco companies didn’t offer good prices last year because officials said the quality of the crop was down.