YOU CAN'T KEEP A GOOD RESEARCH CENTER DOWN

The ruins of the ag research center at Princeton. Ky., December 14, 2022. Photo: University of Kentucky. AFTER THE TORNADO... The Agricultural Research Station in Princeton, Ky., well known for its work on dark tobacco types, was for all practical purposes destroyed when it was hit dead center the night of December 11 by the tornado that damaged so much of western Kentucky and Tennessee. "It looks like a bomb has gone off," said Kentucky agriculture commission Ryan Quarles on a visit two days afterward. The facility has sentimental significance for western Kentuckians said Quarles. "This where Kentucky farmers com once a year...to learn about the latest..in agricultural production.” There is some good news: State authorities plan to rebuild the station although this no doubt take some time. Where might cigar leaf production settle in North Carolina? The best growing conditions for production of Connecticut broadleaf appear to be the mountain area of western N.C., where burley production is disappearing, says Matthew Vann, N.C. Extension tobacco specialist. “We’ve seen some interest from growers in that region.” But for the foreseeable future, the Old Belt is the most likely area to see adoption of CBL” he says. “Tobacco production there has largely not been interrupted in the years since the buyout.” So far, there has been some production in flue-cured areas, but it could be grown from Granville County to Surry County. It would be possible for Coastal Plain farmers to grow CBL if they had suitable soils and irrigation infrastructure, says Vann. “But there is such a big difference between flue-cured management and cigar wrapper management that not many may decide to try it.” With CBL, for instance, the goal is to keep a certain level of nitrogen on the plant to the end of the season. With flue-cured, the goal is to starve the plant of nitrogen by the end of the season. NOTE: CBL may require two to three times as much nitrogen as flue-cured. A different way of marketing seed: A new tobacco seed company, Foley Seed and Service of Ashland, Va., is selling seed direct to farmers, bypassing distributors. Foley has partnered with farmers themselves as sales contractors--they will maintain contact with farmer customers to the end of the season. Foley Seed, owned by Kimberly Foley, began its first season of seed sales three weeks ago, selling burley flue-cured and dark varieties. For information, go to https:// foleyseed.com/, or sign up at https:// connect. foleyseed.com or call at 434-623-8414. A different way of marketing seed: A new tobacco seed company, Foley Seed and Service of Ashland, Va., is selling seed direct to farmers, bypassing distributors. Foley has partnered with farmers themselves as sales contractors--they will maintain contact with farmer customers to the end of the season. Foley Seed, owned by Kimberly Foley, began its first season of seed sales three weeks ago, selling burley flue-cured and dark varieties. For information, go to https://foleyseed.com/, or sign up at https:// connect. foleyseed.com or call at 434-623-8414.

The anticipated tobacco plantings in Cuba’s leading tobacco - growing province--Rio del Pinar--is projected to fall 17.6 percent below the nearly 34,400 acres that had been projected earlier in the year. According to Granma, the state-run newspaper of Cuba, the reduction is largely due to a fertilizer shortage.