Author: William Bailey
Major Program: Tobacco
Although burley and dark tobacco are the primary tobacco types grown in Kentucky, a new type of tobacco called Connecticut Broadleaf began to be produced in Kentucky on a very small scale in 2018 and continues today. This new type of tobacco is specifically suited for production of cigar wrappers, and commands a very high price per pound if cigar wrapper grades are produced. This new type of tobacco had been grown in Connecticut and Massachusetts, but not in Kentucky prior to 2018, a
Tobacco educational programming has traditionally been a very in-person, face-to-face effort that has involved 20 to 30 in-person grower meetings between January and March every year. With the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-2021, these tobacco educational efforts had to be converted to a very non-traditional virtual format. In 2021, Tobacco Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) trainings, required annually by the tobacco industry for all tobacco growers since 2013, were offered in several vir
Author: Chuck Flowers
GAP or Good Agriculture Practices is a term used to help consumers know where and how their food is raised. Our tobacco growers also have to follow the same guidelines of GAP and attend trainings. With the Covid guidelines it was hard to have open meetings to cover GAP practices. But as things were getting better we took virtual and social distancing and we made it happen. University of Kentucky tobacco specialist Dr. Andy Bailey and Dr. Bob Pierce, along with GAPC representative Amy
Author: Robert Pearce
US Tobacco GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) is an industry led program designed to insure that tobacco growers in the United States are well informed and follow the best practices for the production of all types of tobacco. Kentucky is the second leading producer of tobacco behind North Carolina, but has the most tobacco growers of any state due to the relatively smaller farm size. Tobacco growers are required to attend an annual training session conducted by Cooperative Extension Specialists.
Author: Matthew Futrell
Good Agriculture Practices has become a very common phrase in the last ten years in the agriculture industry. As consumers become more aware of where and how their food and other products are raised, they have held producers to a standard of production defined by Good Agriculture Practices, or GAP. The tobacco industry is no different. Just like the food and fiber industry tobacco production has been held to those same standards. While consumers have lead the way to uphol
Author: John Fourqurean
The past several years Mclean County like most counties tobacco production has certainly declined. However there are still several tobacco producers that have now started relying on the McLean County Cooperative Extension Service to provide their yearly GAP training, due to COVID-19 restrictions many companies have quit providing these GAP trainings for their producers. The McLean County Ag Agent hosted 2 different GAP training sessions for the McLean County producers as well as a few producers
Author: Shane Bogle
Caldwell and Trigg counties produce a significant amount of tobacco. Both counties combine for 2,213 acres of all tobacco types of tobacco including the more recent Pennsylvania boadleaf wrapper. Although total production decreased since last year, tobacco still maintains it's spot as one of the top agricultural commodities in the area. Since 2014 all major tobacco companies have required producers to be trained in Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) in order to market tobacco. The
Author: Clinton Hardy
Tobacco remains an important crop economically to hundreds of farms in Daviess County. Due to unknown reasons, dark air-cure tobacco contracts were reduced 48% in the spring of 2020 cutting the gross income by nearly half for our most lucrative tobacco type. To offset less tobacco income, some growers adopted a new type of tobacco for our area. Nearly 100 acres of Connecticut broadleaf cigar wrapper tobacco was grown in Daviess County in 2020 for the first time ever. Exte
