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| Greenhouse tobacco not hurt by cold temperature |
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| By TIM THORNBERRY
Kentucky Correspondent
LEXINGTON, Ky. — State tobacco producers may be among the few farmers who dodged the cold-snap bullet created by recent freezing conditions that engulfed much of the eastern United States.
According to Gary Palmer, University of Kentucky College of Agriculture tobacco specialist, most young plants are now grown in greenhouses, thus sparing them from that devastating freeze that may ultimately put many producers out of business.
“A survey of Kentucky’s Ag & Natural Resources Agents revealed that damage from recent cold weather, for the most part, was minor,” he said. ”With greenhouse space sufficient to grow most of the plants needed due to smaller crops than a few years ago, fewer plants are grown in outside beds.
“Almost no damage was reported in greenhouses. Areas where expansion has occurred and, therefore, more outside beds damaged, was more significant.”
Most counties reported slight to nonexistent damage, to moderate damage. That’s good news for burley growers, especially in light of the ever-changing tobacco climate in the state.
Since tobacco buyout legislation was passed by Congress more than two years ago, production in Kentucky has been down and has shifted more to the western portion of the state. Before the buyout, the top seven tobacco-producing counties were located in the central, Bluegrass Region of the state. Now, the top seven are located west of the Interstate 65 corridor.
“With this change in structure, we are also seeing changes in economic importance of agriculture. We knew that when the tobacco buyout was completed there would be significant change2 |
| 4/18/2007 |
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