Late season rains threaten Cuban tobacco harvest


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Reported on Halfwheel March 6th - saw a couple of reference to this in the 'Out to Pinar Del Rio' thread:

Heavy rains late in the harvesting season could mean trouble for Cuba’s tobacco growers, and some researchers are suggesting that shifting climates could provide a significant challenge for the Pinar del Río region to maintain its unique environmental balance that results in its signature tobacco.

Several farmers and workers told IPSNews.net that the increased rainfall could result in plant rot and that the adverse weather has forced them to push back harvesting and resort to picking capadura, a lower quality leaf, in order to maximize production. The article cites local reports of the loss of 813 hectares in Pinar del Río, with damage to another 1,000 hectares of the region’s 15,000 hectares of tobacco producing land, forcing some farmers to uproot their crops and replant as much as three times.

Between the regions of San Juan y Martinez and San Luis, they provide 86 percent of the tobacco used in premium Cuban cigars.

The challenge to produce tobacco crops as in years past could become more of a challenge, as Dayana Hernández and Aliet Achkienazi, researchers at the state Meteorology Institute, are forecasting a warming trend that will increase every decade this century and disrupt the natural balance that has given Cuban tobacco its signature taste. The pair recently published a study on climate change in the region and the impact it will have on tobacco production and cultivation.

Representatives from Habanos SA have not replied to requests for comments on the situation.

Doesn't bode well for the coming production pod.gif

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Wrapper will be seriously affected by the rains (2015). Given there is a shortage of large quality wrapper already this does note bode well.

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Would a large wrapper shortage primarily affect the long and skinnys (lanceros), the short and fats (edmundos/wide churchills) or the sorta fat and sorta longs (sig VI/churchills)?

I hope coronas and CGs will be ok

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Would a large wrapper shortage primarily affect the long and skinnys (lanceros), the short and fats (edmundos/wide churchills) or the sorta fat and sorta longs (sig VI/churchills)?

I hope coronas and CGs will be ok

Good question. The answer would definitely effect where I go deep this year.

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Would a large wrapper shortage primarily affect the long and skinnys (lanceros), the short and fats (edmundos/wide churchills) or the sorta fat and sorta longs (sig VI/churchills)?

I hope coronas and CGs will be ok

It affects based on the length. So, long & skinnys (lanceros) and fat and longs (Sig VI/Churchills) are what need the bigger wrapper leaves. Short and fats are not so size dependant on the wrappers.

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Climate change isn't a debatable topic. It's happening.

And it's been happening for millenia.

The only thing that's changed is our species has developed enough hubris and arrogance to believe we can normalize it. Sometimes, I just wish Yellowstone would blow up so we can have the 5 year winter, and the lunatics can see what real climate change looks like on this rock.

As for the beloved leaves, I'm lighting my hair on fire. THIS is something to panic about! :lmao.gif I haven't ruled out adding another humidor, and stockpiling some of my favorites. Worst case, the world doesn't end with the 2015 product, and I'll just have a space to dedicate to aging.

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And it's been happening for millenia.

The only thing that's changed is our species has developed enough hubris and arrogance to believe we can normalize it. Sometimes, I just wish Yellowstone would blow up so we can have the 5 year winter, and the lunatics can see what real climate change looks like on this rock.

Well the other thing that has continued to change is that we exceed how much damage we do year after year. The fact that anyone disputes climate change is just bizarre in my mind. There's an overwhelming consensus amongst scientists that climate change is happening and it's being accelerated by our pollution.
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Well the other thing that has continued to change is that we exceed how much damage we do year after year. The fact that anyone disputes climate change is just bizarre in my mind. There's an overwhelming consensus amongst scientists that climate change is happening and it's being accelerated by our pollution.

and overwhelming consensus that there is fraud amongst scientists that insist climate change is happening

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Well the there are changes in climate for sure, don't think anyone can debate that. The question is how much is a result of the natural cyclical weather changes that have occurred throughout history, how much is being impacted by us and what the effect chemtrails are having on weather patterns looking.gif

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Well the there are changes in climate for sure, don't think anyone can debate that. The question is how much is a result of the natural cyclical weather changes that have occurred throughout history, how much is being impacted by us and what the effect chemtrails are having on weather patterns :looking:

I like the way global warming chage to climate change after 10 years of below average temp.

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I like the way global warming chage to climate change after 10 years of below average temp.

Always change the wording when it doesn't fit the agenda! Man made global warming is a hoax with no real data to back it up.

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10 years is equivalent to a second in a day in the history of Earth. Hard to look at one second of your day to see what happened that day.

My guess is that all the crap we've dumped in the Great Lakes and world's oceans and released into the atmosphere in the last 100 years (10 seconds) has not improved the planet. The negative effects are yet to be understood or realized.

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Pretty cool article on what's coming from the IPCC as 69 scientists scramble to explain why the earth isn't on fire like they predicted years ago, and how to make up new predictions to keep their grant (and US taxpayer) money coming in.

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/03/28/matt-ridleys-new-article-in-the-wsj-a-dose-of-pragmatism-about-revelations-from-the-new-ipcc-report/#more-106539

Think for yourself and follow the money.

jp

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10 years of below average temperature? That's the sample size youre choosing to look at? confused.gif

You could look at the fact we're at the end of an ice age too, and that looking at the cycles, we're in a relatively cool period, with low sea levels, just like the numerous other times this rock has been at this stage. More broad sample sizes aren't a great position for the CC Alarmist either. :)

The climates changing with or without us. No one really knows how our feedback is effecting the cycles and the climate. We don't know how ANY of the drivers of our climate are significant, from sun spots, magnetic field changes, heat island, cloud cover, CO2, ozone, anything. Not only do we not no how to quantify their impacts by themselves, we don't have the slightest clue as to how to quantify them together. We're but one tiny piece of an infinitely complex system. We can't even recreate the last 15 years based on any of the models we're using to predict the future.

It takes some kind of insane hubris to not only pretend we understand it, but to believe we can change it. Are humans affecting climate? Sure. The question is, so what? We don't even know if we're affecting it in a way that's good or bad (though the IPCC admits that moderate warming over the long term is good for our species).

Now, I'm a noob here, but I'm pretty sure this is a banned topic. Before we all get our hands slapped, let's get back to the important stuff, and start panicking about the real things, like being sentenced to a terrible hell of bad cigars!

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Sounds like a perfect excuse for a long and skinny "Climate Change Blowout Sale"!!! :)

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