MM Corn Cob Pipe Production Ceased!

[taerin]

MM has stopped production on all medium to large corn cob pipes due to the worst drought in 50 years. Not expected to begin again until next harvest sometime in 2013. If you want any of those pipes, you should get them now. Here's a video on the subject by Scott from Aristocob.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixlUgeDyBx4&feature=g-all-u

 

[shaintiques]

Yeah its really bad up there my parents have been trucking water in to water the big trees in their yard to keep them from dying its so bad

 

[uberam3rica]

I hope that this doesn't cause them to close. That would be horrid!

 

[bigmike]

Ironically, I just ordered 2 MM Country Gentleman Cobs from Am***n which were just at $9.00 each.
It looked as if they still had some in stock..... ::

 

[tokerpipes]

I was under the impression that MM had a huge warehouse of cobs curring for like 4 years before they even make the pipe? So if the drought is that bad its going to effect production like 3-4 years from now right?

 

[admin]

Eric, we reported on this on August 7, and the description on the video actually says:

I've been sitting on this for almost a month, but now that this has been published by Pipesmagazine.com I guess the cat is out of the bag.

I actually sat on it for a while too as I was overwhelmed with production and waiting to hear back from MM.
In my phone conversation with Phil, I was told that production is being cut in half, which is different than what the video says.
Our original work on the drought reporting was on July 20 with: Will 2012 Flash Drought & Heat Wave Affect Pipe Smokers?
At the end of that piece, I state:

Phil Morgan, the General Manager of Missouri Meerschaum (maker of Corn Cob Pipes) was traveling and not available for comment at press time. However, we were informed that while they desperately need rain, one saving grace is that their fields are irrigated. We will update the article if there is additional information when we hear back from Mr. Morgan next week.

From August 7th, 2012: Worst Drought in 50-Years Affects Corn Cob Pipe Production
Did you see either of those two articles? The newest items get published on the home page and we send a mailing with links to the latest news as well. I don't know if you saw that.

 

[havanarick]

They are great articles although sad it may be..This years drought really sucks!

 

[taerin]

Good articles Kevin, thanks for correcting me. I really hope they stay in business.

 

[admin]

Eric,
I think they will be ok. It's a dent in their business, but they are pretty big for a pipe company. Their huge distribution through large chain stores should keep them humming along.

 

[spartan]

I was under the impression that MM had a huge warehouse of cobs curring for like 4 years before they even make the pipe? So if the drought is that bad its going to effect production like 3-4 years from now right?

Toker raised a good question that didn't get addressed. I too thought they had a few years supply always in stock drying and waiting to be finished?
Is this incorrect?

 

[taerin]

They wouldn't be cutting production by half if that were true.

 

[lonestar]

They wouldn't be cutting production by half if that were true.

Not necessarily. They could be gearing up for a long term trend and dont want to dig too deep in storage.

 

[tokerpipes]

Well I can see them planning for the unknown, but stopping production all together? I could understand limited production and a higher price on those cobs.

 

[rigmedic1]

Well, I have 2 of the larger ones. Makes me want to go out and buy a couple more though. I hope they can keep going after this.