Blue Mold Threatens Tobacco

Source from:  By Gregory A. Hall The Courier-Journal 06/26/2006

Hot weather may suppress outbreak. New cases of blue mold in the state's tobacco crop could lead to a serious outbreak unless the weather turns off hot and dry, a University of Kentucky specialist said. "The potential for that is here right now," said Kenny Seebold, a tobacco pathologist. "… It's not going to go away as quickly as we would like." Confirmed cases of blue mold are fairly widespread, he said, but not as severe or widespread as Kentucky's last sizable outbreak, in 2004. But once it hits, it can destroy a crop. "We just got wiped out is about all there is to say about it," said Morgan County farmer Mike Amyx. Blue mold took half to two-thirds of his crop almost a month ago, he said. The plants didn't look good from the start, Amyx said, but the blue mold didn't show up until he'd had them about three weeks. Blue-mold spores attack tobacco plants, eating holes through their leaves and reducing growers' yields. A blue-mold outbreak in 1996 cost Kentucky growers an estimated $200 million. But because less burley is grown in the state now, the financial impact of widespread cases could be smaller. Burley production dropped to an estimated 143.5 million pounds last year as federal price supports ended, down 31 percent from 206.7 million pounds in 2004. This year, blue mold has been confirmed in a dozen counties: Adair, Bath, Bourbon, Boyle, Carter, Greenup, Magoffin, Menifee, Mercer, Morgan, Warren and Wolfe. Reports in Harrison and Pendleton counties are unconfirmed, Seebold said. "My feeling is that in areas where we know blue mold is active, there's a very high risk of it spreading," Seebold said, citing Eastern Kentucky as most vulnerable. By comparison, 15 counties had confirmed cases of blue mold last year. In 2004, blue mold was confirmed in more than 40 counties by July. But it did not significantly affect the tobacco harvest. Seebold said he thinks most of the state's blue-mold problems this year originated in plants shipped from out of state. Most of those infections are believed to have occurred when the plants were in float systems prior to being set in fields, he said. Seebold said tobacco farmers should use preventive fungicides and destroy any tobacco remaining in greenhouse or outdoor float beds if it is not to be set. Enditem