NC tobacco farmers focus on president’s visit to China
North Carolina tobacco farmers are intently monitoring the assembly between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Farmers are already feeling the impacts of the battle in Iran, when it comes to oil, fuel, diesel and fertilizer.
The North Carolina Department of Agriculture recorded that China has bought over $228 million value of North Carolina tobacco yearly in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Year after yr, tobacco crops go into the bottom.
Each spring, Matt Grissom has the identical purpose: to plant and harvest a wholesome crop.
“When I finished 2025, I was already working on planning for ’26. It’s a 365-day-a-year process,” Grissom mentioned.
As if making a buck off the land wasn’t exhausting sufficient, there are actually geopolitical components at play, together with the Iranian War and Strait of Hormuz closure. Both have international influence and are choking provide chains and sending the costs of fertilizer and jet gasoline up.
“We’re confident that the administration is working to resolve this trade negotiation,” Grissom mentioned.
Grissom mentioned his fellow North Carolina tobacco growers are watching President Trump’s summit with the Chinese president.
He mentioned an excellent change between these superpowers over frequent issues within the Middle East may create the proper circumstances for China to purchase extra North Carolina tobacco.
A yr in the past, farmers talked in regards to the impacts tobacco farmers have been feeling from worldwide tariffs, impacting the quantity of tobacco bought by China.
“For North Carolina tobacco, I mean, we really depend on this a lot,” Grissom mentioned. “So for ’26, it could open up a lot more volume of tobacco and more pounds. If we could get China to come back and buy tobacco, because our domestic market content continues to decline anywhere from 12 to 14% year over year.”
DTN, a personal firm that tracks worldwide agricultural markets, places urea, utilized in nitrogen-based fertilizer, at $865 a ton. That is a 55% greater worth since February.
“But once the war started, they just skyrocketed. I mean, just unexpectedly. I mean, I went three weeks and couldn’t even get a price on fertilizer. They wouldn’t sell it. They wouldn’t give a price on it because it was changing that fast,” Grissom mentioned.
Grissom can be an impartial retailer of fertilizer, which suggests he is seeing the issue from a number of sides.
Even exterior the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian War, Grissom mentioned fewer farmers are farming extra land, which equals fewer individuals shopping for merchandise.
Costs for diesel are nonetheless up. The international stock is down, and Grissom mentioned his revenue margins are wanting skinny.
“With the price and the volatility of it, right now we are just buying it as needed,” Grissom mentioned.
There’s additionally the influence of drought within the state.
Grissom mentioned, regardless of any pitfalls, he would not have it another method.
“I think probably what keeps myself personally and most everyone I know doing this is just the love. I absolutely love what I do every day. I mean, it’s what gets me up in the morning. It’s what I think about when I go to bed at night,” Grissom mentioned.
