In just a short time, tobacco packaging has evolved from the 250 pound sheets to 750 pound bales, which provides growers with a more efficient way to handle, package and ship their product. Since their introduction at the beginning of the selling season last August, tobacco balers have become more and more popular in Virginia.
The revolutionary tobacco packaging method has evolved since that time to provide growers with ever more efficient ways to produce denser bales of tobacco over a wider range of conditions. Whereas the first balers worked off a front-end loader on a tractor, the newer models use hydraulic power to condense the leaf into the dense 750 pound bales.
Local growers will have the opportunity to examine a number of different models of tobacco balers at the upcoming Virginia Tobacco Conference and Trade Show to be held at the Halifax County High School February 13.
"Technology has moved forward since the balers were introduced at the beginning of the season last year," said Don Anderson, President of the Virginia Tobacco Growers Association. "While the original models produced just as good a bale, the new hydraulically controlled models are faster, more efficient, and capable of producing a denser package over a wider range of conditions, which makes for easier stacking."
Not only that, baled tobacco tends to command higher prices. In August of 1998, bales brought $1.65 per pound each, which was around eight cents higher than the average of the sheet tobacco.
"While none of the major tobacco companies have issued statements that they will pay a premium for baled tobacco, growers have been encouraged by Phillip Morris and other domestic manufacturers to use this packaging method, and the prices last season seemed to indicate that there is a premium on baled tobacco," Anderson said. "Baled tobacco represents less loss for the buyer. There is less lost leaves and less lost moisture, and there is less labor needed to remove the bales from the warehouse floor and loading and unloading the leaf."
Although growers are not yet required bale all of their tobacco, Anderson said he expects to see the transition occur over the next few years.
"This coming year the majority of the tobacco sold will probably be in sheets, so we'll still need the labor and equipment to handle both. But as we move forward and the growers realize the advantages of baling, there will be a change.
"Baling offers the grower many advantages in the long run, as baled tobacco will make us more competitive on the world market without reducing the selling price," Anderson continued. "Personally, I find baled tobacco much easier to handle, and it's neater and safer to haul."
Approximately 10 different models will be on display this weekend at the Tobacco Expo, which is sponsored by the Virginia Tobacco Growers Association and the Virginia Cooperative Extension Agency.
These balers won't be the only new products on display.
"There's been a lot of interest in these carousel planters that are used with greenhouse plants, and there will be several of those on display, too," he said.
These labor-saving planters require half the manpower to plant a crop of tobacco.
In addition to farming equipment, there will be representatives on hand from all the major seed and fertilizer manufacturers with information about different seed and tobacco varieties and the new insecticides and herbicides available to growers this season.
In the service area, several crop insurance representatives will be available to talk about new coverage options for growers.
Support services booths will be set up with representatives from federal and state agencies such as the Farm Service Agency (FSA), Soil Conservation, and Virginia Extension Services.

Calling SAFE (South Central Agriculturalists for the Environment) more of a FARCE, Southside Concerned Citizens chairman Jack Dunavant attacked the premiere meeting of the fledgling organization as being a gathering of "hog parlor operators, wannabees or (hog) proponents."
In an opinion piece published in today's Gazette-Virginian, Dunavant attacked the "experts" at SAFE's fact finding meeting as being unqualified to on hog odor, air pollution, water pollution or "any of the other issues that are so troubling to the people of Halifax County."
Dunavant also questioned a report by SAFE at it's meeting that 60,000 hogs are raised in the City of Virginia Beach.
Using Virginia DEQ figures, Dunavant claims the actual number is closer to 20,000 and all are in the farming area of Virginia Beach "10 miles or more from the area we know as Virginia Beach," he wrote.
Dunavant also questioned SAFE panelist's claims of very little well contamination in eastern North Carolina.
Dunavant said the SCC has documents showing 30 percent well contamination in the area and almost 60 percent well contamination in Rockingham County, VA farms where the poultry farms have been established for over 50 years.
The full text of Dunavant's article follows:

Boy, oh boy -- look what happens when politicians pretend to be environmentalists. We now have a new group formed by Tucker Watkins which calls itself SAFE and professes to be a guardian of the environment. At their first public "fact finding" meeting it just so happened that every member of his so-called panel of experts was either a hog parlor operator, a "wanabee", or a proponent. All of these people think it's okay to spray a million gallons of raw, smelly, untreated hog feces and urine right up to a neighbor's property line. SAFE must mean safe for hogs because it certainly can't mean safe for humans. If SAFE is an environmental group then Monica Lewinski came from a convent.
On behalf of SCC I want to take this opportunity to respond to a few of the "FACTS" that were presented at that first meeting by the pro hog group calling itself SAFE. First of all, Mr. Watkins does a great disservice to the community and to his assembled panel of local people when he promotes them as experts. None of them is qualified to speak about odor or air pollution or water pollution or any of the other issues that are so troubling to the people of Halifax County. One of the panel of "experts" stated that there were 60,000 hogs being raised in the City of Virginia Beach. In truth that number is less than 20,000 as shown by figures which were supplied by the Virginia DEQ.
And, incidently, these hogs are not raised near Virginia Beach proper as we were led to believe. All are raised south of Indian River Road near the farming community of Pungo which is 10 miles or more from the area we know as Virginia Beach. (Technically they are raised in the City of Virginia Beach, but only because the entire county of Princess Ann has been annexed by the city Virginia Beach.)
Another panelist stated that there was very little contamination of wells in Sampson County, North Carolina. SCC has published reports of 30% well contamination in Eastern North Carolina already. Remember that most of these hog farms have been in existence only a few years and it takes a number of years for liquid waste to migrate through the soil to contaminate groundwater. That is what they are finding in sections of Rockingham County where nearly 60% of the wells have been contaminated from turkey/chicken manure. Some of those farms have been there for over 50 years.
As for real estate values -- well, there are many published reports showing declining land values near hog factories. Common sense would tell anyone of average intelligence that this is the case. In fact, a Dewitt County, Illinois, review board recently lowered property values 30% for neighbors within I 1/2 miles of a hog operation. And remember this: SCC has yet to have anyone accept it's proposal to locate a hog factory next door.
Odor, of course, is a subjective thing, like beauty-it is all in the nose of the beholder. An average lagoon produces many hundreds of pounds of ammonia gas every day which, in addition to it's foul odor, is a prime ingredient in acid rain. Hydrogen sulfide, that rotten egg smell, is one of the many other gases produced by hog lagoons. All of these odors have been proven to have adverse health effects, both mental and physical, on humans living nearby.
Mr. Watkins proposes to have Mr. Mike Williams of N. C. State attend his next "fact" meeting. Mr. Williams is an expert on lagoons, and lagoons are part of the problem. They leak and smell and are as outdated as dinosaurs. It is also wise to remember that many of our agricultural universities have been heavily endowed by the hog industry. We're told that Wendell Murphy of Murphy Family Farms recently erected a new building at N. C. State. Just how much "factual" information can one expect in a situation like that?
SCC represents all the people who do not want a hog factory next door. Our position on industrial hog production is this: We do not believe that anyone has a right to create a nuisance for his neighbor. Neither do we think that raising toothless hogs on a concrete slab in a metal building fed with out of state grain is farming. It is an industry and should be treated as such. SCC is fighting to protect the health and property rights of the people of Halifax and surrounding counties.
Mr. Watkins is a late comer to this process. SCC has, over the past 16 years, successfully fought off threats to our area from uranium mining, a nuclear waste dump, and a regional low level radioactive waste facility. SCC also insisted on and got best available technology for stack emissions from the ODEC power plant near Clover. All of these things were accomplished because SCC educated people with the facts. We do not blow smoke or deal in pontifical political puffery-we deal in facts. SCC has already been to N C. State, and to Duplin County, North Carolina, and we have produced many factual documents on the subject of confined swine production. We welcome Mr. Watkins' group if they are sincerely interested in solving the problems associated with industrial swine production (don't tell us there aren't any)-but only when they agree to come out of the closet and admit they are what they are-a pro hog factory organization. That, however, may be more than any politician can bear. It may be even more difficult to achieve than getting Monica L. into a convent.
Until Mr. Watkins clears up the ambiguity about the acronym SAFE we think FARCE would be a much more accurate name.

Cocaine, weapons and drug paraphernalia were seized during a drug raid on a South Boston residence shortly before midnight Saturday, according to reports from the Halifax Regional Narcotic Enforcement Task force.
At approximately 11:48 p.m. February 6, the Halifax Regional Narcotics Enforcement Task Force, along with the Halifax County Sheriff's Department Special tactical Assault Response Squad (STARS) executed a search warrant on a residence located in the town of South Boston and seized an undisclosed amount of cocaine, two pistols, smoking devices and drug paraphernalia.
Task Force Coordinator, Sgt. R.S.B. Pulliam of the Halifax County Sheriff's Department advised that the residence was occupied at the time of the raid. The investigation is continuing and multiple charges are expected against the occupants of the residence on completion of the investigation.

The Halifax Regional Narcotics Enforcement Task Force includes members from the Halifax County Sheriff's Department, South Boston Police Department, Virginia State Police, and Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

A South Boston woman was jailed following her arrest on drug charges Saturday night.
According to reports from the South Boston Police Department, Officer S.M. Comer arrested Sherry Meade Hayes, 34, of 1019 Spruce Lane, South Boston, at Hupps Mill Shopping Center around 6:30 p.m. on charges of possession of a Schedule III controlled substance.
As of presstime Sunday afternoon, Hayes remained incarcerated in the Halifax County Adult Detention Center in lieu of $5,000 bond.
She is scheduled to appear in Halifax County General District Court for a preliminary hearing March 8.

Halifax Town Council is expected to approve a resolution for bond refinancing of $435,000 in sewer bonds during its regular 7:30 p.m. Tuesday session at town hall.
"We're just trying to get the most favorable interest rate," said town manager Robert Greene.
With only bond refinancing on the town agenda, council is slated to enter executive session to discuss boundary expansion immediately following the business session, according to Greene.

A Halifax man was found guilty Friday in Halifax County Circuit Court of malicious wounding and assault charges relating back to a domestic incident involving his estranged wife last February.
Halifax County Circuit Court Judge Charles L. McCormick III found Lonnie Donnell Mosley, 26, of Ball Park Loop, guilty of breaking and entering his former residence on Ball Park Loop February 16 with the intent of harming his estranged wife, Shernita Renee Mosley, who was still living there. Mosely was also convicted of assault and battery of Shernita Mosely and malicious wounding to his wife's friend, Ernest Jerome Coleman, who was in the house at the time of the incident.
According to testimony, there was no indication that anyone was inside when Mosely went to the Ball Park Loop residence last February. He testified that there were no lights on and no vehicles parked at the home, nor did he hear a response when he knocked on the front door around 1:30 a.m.
Mosely testified that Shernita had told him she would not be home that morning, and that he had gone to the home to retrieve some of his belongings.
However, Shernita, who has been separated from the defendant for approximately a year, was home.
She testified that she heard Mosely at the front door and that he came around to the bedroom window demanding she let him in before he used his key and entered via the back door.
After entering the home and meeting Shernita from the den, Mosely reportedly followed her into the bedroom where a struggle ensued.
"I ran to the bedroom , but he pushed (his way) in and began beating me," Shernita testified.
Then Mosley saw Coleman sitting on the bed and the two men began fighting.
At one point Coleman managed to get away from Mosely and ran into the living room where the two continued to struggle, eventually falling on and breaking a glass coffee table.
Mosely said that Coleman cut his back when he fell on the table, however, both Coleman and Shernita testified that Mosely used a shard of the broken glass to stab Coleman.
Shernita testified that she remembered Coleman looking at her with the glass embedded in his back, but she could not remember how many times he was stabbed or which hand Mosely had used to wield the glass when he allegedly stabbed the smaller man.
Coleman managed to get away and testified that he ran out of the house. Shernita said at this point Mosely went into the bedroom and then exited the home as well.
It was during this time that Mosely allegedly took a Guess watch, gold nugget ring and gold rope bracelet that Coleman had taken off while in the bedroom earlier. However, Mosely said he simply scooped up the items while retrieving some of his own jewelry that had come off during the earlier struggle.
Officers responding to the scene that morning arrested Mosely outside and charged him with breaking and entering the home of Shernita Mosely with intent to commit assault and battery, assault and battery on Shernita Mosely, malicious wounding to Ernest Coleman, and grand larceny.
Mosely pleaded not guilty to all four charges but was found guilty of all but grand larceny, as Coleman could not remember the exact value of the items taken that morning. Instead, McCormick found Mosely guilty of petit larceny.
Due to the violent nature of his offenses and a history of domestic violence, McCormick revoked Mosely's bond and remanded him to the Blue Ridge Regional Jail Authority until he is sentenced in March.
In another domestic violence case McCormick found Cassius Lewis Howerton, 44, of River Road, South Boston, guilty of assaulting his estranged wife and violating a protective order.
Howerton pleaded guilty to the assault charge, but pleaded not guilty to violating the protective order or trespassing on his wife's property.
According to the defendant's testimony, he and his wife did have a fight after she returned from church the morning of October 11, 1998, and a protective order forbidding him from returning to the property or contacting his wife was issued as a result.
Howerton explained the reason he returned to the home on River Road later that evening was to get his clothing for work while his wife was back at church.
McCormick dismissed the trespassing charge but found Howerton guilty of assaulting his estranged wife, Brenda Howerton, and violating the protective order.
McCormick sentenced Howerton to 12 months with all but 30 days suspended on the assault charge and 30 days for violating the protective order and remanded him to the Blue Ridge Regional Jail Authority.
A Vernon Hill man found guilty of trying to burn down a building owned by his father on Chatham Road last April was sentenced to five years in prison.
McCormick sentenced 52-year-old Gene O. Wimbish to five years in prison but suspended all but nine months, giving him credit for the past nine months he has spent in the Blue Ridge Regional Jail Authority on condition of five years good behavior. Wimbish was also sentenced to two years intensive supervision.
Donald Watkins Vaughan, 39, of Scottsburg, pleaded not guilty to assault and battery on Wilma Vaughan, and while McCormick found the evidence presented sufficient to find Vaughan guilty, he remitted the case to the July term and reserved the right to reopen the case upon any evidence of trouble.
Yvette Marie Williams, 25, of Main Street, Halifax, pleaded guilty and was found guilty of two counts of credit card fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit credit card fraud.
Williams was released on an unsecured bond and will be sentenced in March.
Frank Wilson Adams, 45, of River Road, South Boston, pleaded not guilty to a subsequent charge of driving under the influence, and the case was dismissed after defense attorney J.W. Watson Jr. argued successfully to withhold introduction of lab reports on blood samples taken after Adams' arrest last July.
Robert Roark, 38, of Nathalie, pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor assault and battery charges on Patricia Jackson. Upon hearing the evidence, McCormick dismissed the case.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Legislators will make decisions early this week that could ultimately affect Virginians' grocery bills,  electric service and rights in dealing with health maintenance  organizations.
Those key issues will be debated in the frantic sprint toward  Tuesday's deadline for the House of Delegates and the Senate to act on their own bills. Beginning Wednesday, each chamber can act only on legislation introduced in the other chamber. An exception is made for the budget.
The House still must decide what type of grocery tax cut, if any, Virginians should receive. The Republican-controlled Senate already has passed a plan, favored by Gov. Jim Gilmore, to begin cutting the state sales tax on groceries next year.
But Democrats, who hold half of the 100 House seats, want to begin the tax cut immediately. The House Appropriations Committee has endorsed Gilmore's plan, but a floor fight is likely.
The GOP proposal would cut one-half percentage point off the state's 4 1/2 percent grocery tax each year for four years. Each cut would save consumers about $62 million.
House Democratic Leader C. Richard Cranwell of Roanoke County  wanted to take up the food tax cut Saturday, arguing that the House Appropriations Committee needed to know whether the tax cut will be implemented this year or in 2000. The legislature's money  committees face a midnight Sunday deadline for completing  amendments to the current state budget.

''Wouldn't it help if the committee knew how much money was going to be needed for the food tax (cut)?'' Cranwell asked.
Del. Vincent F. Callahan Jr., R-Fairfax and co-chairman of the  Appropriations Committee, said the committee has reserved $42 million that could be used for any grocery tax cut that starts this year.
If the House and Senate adopt different versions of the grocery tax cut, a compromise will have to be worked out in a conference  committee consisting of legislators from each chamber before the session ends Feb. 27.
Also early this week, the Senate will consider an electric utility deregulation bill and a 14-point ''patients' bill of rights'' that would greatly expand the rights of Virginians insured by health maintenance organizations.
The HMO legislation would give Virginians the right to sue for  negligence when insurers' decisions injure or contribute to the death of a patient. It also would allow patients to name any specialist as their primary care physician, give them easier access to specialists, allow them to appeal coverage denials to an independent board and guarantee the same coverage for mental and physical illnesses.
Opponents of the legislation, including HMOs and the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, argue that it would drive up the costs of health insurance and force many businesses to either drop coverage or make employees pay more.

The complex electric utility restructuring bill spells out the rules for allowing customers to choose their power supplier, beginning in 2002. Competition would be fully phased in by 2004.
When competition arrives, businesses and residents will be able to shop for power much the way they now choose long-distance telephone carriers. Transmission of electricity would continue to be regulated.

Howard Taft Blackmon of 8203 Bill Tuck Highway, Virgilina died Thursday, February 4, 1999 at Halifax Regional Hospital. He was 72 years of age at the time of his death.
Mr. Blackmon was born August 30, 1926 in Pelham, NC the son of Zeb Vance Blackmon and Bessie Bayes Blackmon and was married to Margaret Elliott Blackmon. He attended Hitesburg Baptist Church, was a Navy Veteran and retired textile worker with J.P. Stevens.
Funeral services were held Sunday, February 7 at 2 p.m. at Brooks Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Bill Salmons officiating. Burial was in Oak Ridge Cemetery.
Survivors of Mr. Blackmon include his wife; two daughters, Betty B. Townsend of Drakes Branch and Phyllis B. Matthews of Danville; one son, Howard Lewis Blackmon of Virgilina; five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Eva Mae Brammer of 331 Wickham Street, South Boston died Friday, February 5,1 999 at Halifax Regional Hospital. She was 69 years of age.
Ms. Brammer was born in Bluefield, WVA on August 20, 1929 the daughter of Clarence Stouse Brammer and Olive Pearl Smith Brammer.
Graveside services were held Sunday, February 7 at Black Walnut Baptist Church Cemetery with Rev. Rudolph Jacobs conducting the service.

Survivors of Ms. Brammer include two daughters, Rita Diane McGregor and Norma Jean Blanks Dix, both of South Boston; two sons, Paul Franklin Blanks and David Allen Saunders, both of South Boston; two sisters, Mary Conner Reynolds of South Boston and Jane Murray of Wheeling, WVA; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by one grandson, Kevin Franklin Robinson.

King Douglas Murray of Collinsville died Wednesday, February 3, 1999 at Martinsville Health & Rehab Center at the age of 64.
He is survived by his wife, Reva Murray of Collinsville; one sister, Marjorie Hite of Buffalo Junction; one brother, Smith Murray, also of Buffalo Junction. He was preceded in death by two brothers, Curtis and Glenn Murray.
Graveside services for Mr. Murray will be held today, February 8 at 11 a.m. at Virgilina Cemetery.

Mrs. Lucille L. Lacks of 2221 Morton Ferry Rd., Nathalie died February 5 at Halifax Regional Hospital. She was born in Halifax County on April 25, 1929 and was 69 years old.
She was the daughter of Lemuel Lacks and Flossie Hazelwood Lacks and was married to Winston Lacks.
Mrs. Lacks was a member of Clover Church of God.
Survivors include three daughters, Joyce L. Garibay of Drakes Branch, Judy L. Yates of Nathalie and Valerie Lacks of Nathalie; four sons, Curtis Lacks of Chase City, Ricky Lacks of South Boston, Jeffrey Lacks of Danville and Tony Lacks of Nathalie; one sister, Katherine L. Jones of Keysville; one brother, Archer Lacks of Clover; and five grandchildren.
Mrs. Lacks was preceded in death by her husband, Winston Lacks; two sisters, Florell Hazelwood and Stella Lacks; and two brothers, Willard and Harry Lacks.
Graveside services were held yesterday at Clover Cemetery with the Rev. Ricky Bibee conducting.
The family will receive friends at the home of her daughter, Valerie Lacks, 2241 Morton Ferry Rd., Nathalie.