Some tobacco farmers dealt late-season setback

LOUISVILLE — Recent heavy rains that soaked Kentucky delivered a late-season setback to some tobacco farmers as their leaf ripens, dampening their hopes for a bumper crop after a couple of drought years.More than a half-foot of rain fell across part of the Bluegrass State last week as the bulk of the burley tobacco crop was curing in barns — an autumn ritual when the long green leaves gradually change to reddish brown in a process that prepares the leaf for market. The prolonged stretch of wet weather in the state that leads the nation in burley production at least briefly heightened the risk of tobacco being afflicted with mold or fungus that can rot away part of the leaf.
Fields with uncut tobacco turned into muddy bogs, slowing harvest and hurting leaf quality.
"It's certainly putting a hardship on the farmers," said Nick Carter, agricultural extension agent in Fayette County in central Kentucky.
Will Snell, a University of Kentucky agricultural economist specializing in tobacco, said burley, an ingredient in cigarettes, started out curing well, but the combination of high humidity and rain has been "very hard on the crop."
That has added to the anxiety of farmers growing tobacco under contract for tobacco companies. A poor crop can be turned away or fetch a lower price.
"There's a lot of fear with guys knowing that the tobacco companies aren't going to take low-quality tobacco," said Kenny Seebold, a UK extension tobacco specialist.
"Everybody here is on thin margins. They need all the income that they can get."
A weekly report stated some farmers indicated that the high humidity and wet weather are "taking a toll on housed tobacco," according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service's Kentucky field office.
Snell said timing could be crucial in determining how well each individual crop cures this fall.
Burley that reached the barn early in the season "may still do well," he said, but later-planted tobacco housed just before the onslaught of rains "may have some major issues."
Another factor, he said, is that "some farmers crammed the tobacco in the barn too tightly due to limited barn space, and that is just adding to the problem."

Tobacco regs to be changed

Belmont, Mass. - The Board of Health will hold a public hearing from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 5, in Conference Room 4 of the Town Hall, corner of Concord Avenue and Pleasant Street.

These changes were proposed by Belmont’s tobacco consortium director in response to changes being made in communities around Belmont. Only two small changes were accepted by the Board of Health in regard to the “Sale of Tobacco Products to Minors.” One is that a tobacco sales permit will not be renewed if the permit holder has failed to pay all fines issued. The other is that revocation of a tobacco sales permit will result if a permit holder sells tobacco products while the permit is under suspension.
The Board of Health has been enforcing the State’s smoke-free workplace law since its enactment in July, 2004. In order to make local changes, a new Belmont “Regulation Prohibiting Smoking in Workplaces and Public Places” is now being proposed by the Board of Health. This regulation will prohibit smoking bars and hookah bars in Belmont and will prohibit smoking in “all outdoor seating areas adjacent to food service establishments where food is consumed.” The popularity of outdoor dining in recent years has brought the smoking issue in these areas to the attention of Boards of Health as well as all of the tobacco consortiums around the State.