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| Harvesting
The most critical part of tobacco production is timing the
harvest. For farmers to maximize the most of their plant they
want to harvest mature plants with ripe leaves. Harvesting takes
place when the plant is no longer performing at the peak level.
Plants will begin to yellow because of the breakdown of chlorophyll.
In recent years it was thought that this yellowing was caused
from the sucker control chemicals but it is actually the plants
natural way of indicating it is ripe.
If harvesting is delayed then the nicotine levels will be reduced.
Burley tobacco is traditionally harvested by cutting the entire
plant down and then "spearing" or "spiking"
it onto a stick. Usually the tobacco is allowed to remain in
the field until it wilts so that it will not be as heavy. These
sticks of cut tobacco are then picked up out of the field and
taken to a barn or outdoor structure to cure, while the leaves
remain on the stalk.
The tobacco is cured in a barn or an outdoor structure. Curing
involves the use of ventilation and temperature to help ensure
the quality of the tobacco. During curing the carbohydrates
are converted to simple sugars. The leangth of time the tobacco
cures influences the sugar content. Flue-cured tobacco production
uses smoke to help the tobacco cure at this stage, whereas burley
production does not.
Outdoor structure that have become popular in recent years
do not take as much time to cure the tobacco. Usually tobacco
will only have to stay in these structures 2 to 4 weeks, as
opposed to barn cured tobacco which takes 3 to 6 weeks. The
barns are slower but they allow the farmer to have control of
the amount of airflow through the tobacco. Fans and artificial
heat are sometimes used to help speed up the curing process
in barns.
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