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-hour session in their respective states.  Information presented in the annual crop and environmental management sessions are based on field research results conducted locally.  Andy Bailey has conducted several research projects focused on cost reduction, harm reduction and increased quality and marketability of dark tobacco grown in Kentucky, including:  curing methods and potassium source modification to reduce harmful nitrosamine constituents in cured leaf, pesticide residue reduction (12 common pesticides tested over the last 12 years to establish common pesticide residue levels in cured dark tobacco leaf in Kentucky), development of production recommendations for establishment of Connecticut Broadleaf cigar wrapper tobacco production in Kentucky, management of angular leaf spot in dark fire-cured tobacco, air-curing barn management to mitigate poor air-curing conditions to make tobacco marketable in poor curing seasons, and variety development and fungicide evaluation to allow dark tobacco to be produced in the presence of black shank.  

   Results from these and other dark tobacco research programs have been used in the crop and environmental management training in 158 Tobacco GAP Trainings that Andy Bailey has conducted since the U.S. Tobacco GAP Program was established in 2013.  Over the past 11 years since the inception of the U.S. Tobacco GAP Program, between 900 and 1800 tobacco growers annually have participated in Tobacco GAP Trainings that Andy Bailey has conducted.  In addition, Andy Bailey is editor of the Burley & Dark Tobacco Production Guide, a major extension publication that is published every 2 years and has become the leading reference for GAP Program compliance and leading general reference for burley and dark production in the United States.