On a cool, rainy summer day, a breeze rustles through the trees surrounding tobacco fields. Silently riding the wind are the spores of Peronospora hyoscyami f. sp. tabacina, otherwise known as tobacco blue mold. During summers like this one, when the rains just won’t stop and June feels more like early spring, conditions are just […]
Nitrogen can be a grower’s best friend or worst enemy. If plants don’t get enough of the nutrient, their growth is stunted. If they get too much, the excess leaf growth that results can attract pests and disease. That’s why savvy tobacco farmers apply nitrogen in a calculated manner, taking into account recommendations based on […]
Over the last few months, spread of the coronavirus impacted our lives in ways we never imagined or thought possible. Closed borders, stalled travel, shuttered businesses: Few industries and communities have been spared. As we head into summer, tobacco farmers are hoping for the best while bracing themselves for the worst. While a cure and […]
Though their tiny jaws never chop your tobacco leaves, red imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) can be a huge pain (literally) as they build their big mounds in greenhouses and fields. Ever since they marched their way across the American South in the 1930s, fire ants have made themselves known with their burning, pustule-forming stings […]
For many years, burley tobacco growers have used cover crops in the offseason to protect the soil and scavenge nutrients. Because many tobacco growers also produce livestock, a team of researchers at the University of Kentucky is examining the entire enterprise as one system. The team includes assistant professors Ben Goff in forage and grazing […]
Using float bed systems has many advantages over growing transplants in outdoor beds. It requires less labor, and there’s less worry about the effects of weather. Also, greenhouse-grown transplants typically lead to a more uniform crop in the field. This growing technique does have one major disadvantage, however. It can create near-perfect conditions for the […]
Over the past decades, the number of farms in America has decreased while farmers have grown a little grayer—a third of primary operators are now 65 or older. Now, however, those stubborn demographics are shifting. For the second time in a century, the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) census on agriculture shows an increase […]
By Turner Walston Follow these five tips to make greenhouse spring cleaning a breeze. With tobacco out of the fields and cover crops planted, ‘tis the season to prep tobacco greenhouses for 2017 transplants. “Sanitation is the key word,” says Dr. J. Michael Moore, professor and tobacco Extension agronomist at the University of Georgia. “That […]
By Julia Ellis In the field and in the laboratory, researchers are investigating ways to optimize nicotine concentration in tobacco for the noncombustible market. U.S. tobacco has traditionally been prized for its taste and quality. In the e-liquid market, however, taste is irrelevant. Nicotine content is the valued commodity. Currently India and China are known […]
By Julia Ellis When tobacco plants show signs of injury or abnormal growth, farmers often blame chemicals. But experts point out that, when used correctly, chemicals don’t harm tobacco plants, and other factors are often to blame for these plants’ maladies. Weather Woes Leaf injuries—curling, weather flecks, spots, etching or discoloration—result from a variety of […]
