Author: William Bailey
Major Program: Tobacco
Kentucky is one of only 5 states left that have extension specialists devoted to tobacco applied research and extension efforts. Kentucky leads the nation in production of burley and dark tobacco, and also produces considerable quantities of cigar wrapper styles of tobacco. Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Connecticut have small pockets of tobacco production but provide little or no extension or research support for them. Andy Bailey has conducted annual tobacco Good Agri
Tobacco provides nearly $270 million annually to the Kentucky Agricultural economy. All tobacco growers that sell tobacco to major manufacturers in the U.S. are required to complete an annual Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) Training. This training is a 2-hour annual training that includes crop management, environmental management, and labor training, with tobacco extension specialists in the tobacco-producing states conducted the crop and environmental management (1 hr) of each 2-h
Author: Matthew Futrell
Tobacco GAP ensures quality products and consumer confidenceThe tobacco industry has been under a lot of scrutiny over the past twenty years. Concerns of major health effects and a link to known carcinogens has lead the tobacco industry to take measures that will boost consumer confidence in the products that they are purchasing.One such measure is the tobacco Good Agriculture Practices program. Tobacco companies, producers, the cooperative extension service, and GAP Connections have
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: Ricky Arnett
Even with the changes that much of the tobacco industry has seen across the state of Kentucky since the tobacco buyout in 2001, and the weather conditions tobacco farmers has faced over the last three to five years, tobacco remains a strong and vital component of Green County. According to the Kentucky Agriculture statistics, this $10 million annual crop makes up over 33 % of Green County’s Agriculture economy. A strong joint effort has been implemented by Green, Adair, and Taylor counties
Author: Alex Butler
Idaho Leadership Organization
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. This year there is a GAP audit for our tobacco producers. A few producers approached me with the idea that I provide their safety training to their H2-A workers for the audit. This would give a third party verification to the process. University of Kentucky tobacco specialist Dr. Andy Bail
