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“The last thing growers needed
was an early cold snap."
Bob Pearce
UK Extension Tobacco Specialist
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By Aimee D. Heald
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 8, 2003) – Mother Nature just won’t let up on burley
growers in 2003. She kept them from planting on time. Then they had to deal with
a late and wet cutting, causing more green tobacco sickness than normal. Now the
unseasonably cool fall weather means more problems.
“The last thing growers needed was an early cold snap,” said Bob Pearce,
University of Kentucky Extension tobacco specialist. “But that is just what we
got.”
He said relatively large acreages of burley remained in the field when the first
fall frost hit many parts of Kentucky, and even though the cold spell appears to
be over for now growers will continue to feel its effects.
“During a frost, water inside the leaf freezes and expands, causing the cells to
burst and leak out all over the leaf,” he said. “One of the compounds that leaks
out is chlorophyll, the pigment that causes plants to be green. Once chlorophyll
leaks out, it may dry very quickly without breaking down and that can cause the
leaf to have a green appearance even after curing.”
Growers who got their crop into the barn before the cold snap may still see some
green in their cured burley. Pearce explained that the ideal temperature range
for burley curing is 65 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Chemical reactions that cause
color changes occur faster at higher temperatures. Low temperatures in the first
week of curing often result in green color regardless of humidity, he said.
During cooler weather growers don’t have to worry as much about houseburn, so
tobacco should be housed closer together and farmers should close barns up to
minimize ventilation and slow the drying rate. Pearce said yellow and
light-colored tobacco usually can be improved by time and cycling in and out of
case, but once a green cast is set it is difficult to remove.
“Green is just not a desirable color for cured burley tobacco,” he emphasized.
“So growers will need to be careful during stripping and grading to separate
green tobacco. Typically it’s much better to separate green leaf and to keep it
from dragging down the grade and price of the entire crop.”
Writer: Aimee
D. Heald 859-257-4736, ext. 267
Source:
Bob Pearce 859-257-5110
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