Blue Mold Confirmed in Ky. Burley Tobacco Field

Source from:  Associated Press 07/20/2009

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- A disease that has been a scourge for Kentucky tobacco growers in the past has made its first appearance of the season in the state leading the nation in burley tobacco production, an expert said Friday. Blue mold was found in a farmer's tobacco patches along the Clark-Montgomery county line east of Lexington, said Kenny Seebold, a University of Kentucky extension tobacco specialist. So far, the disease has spread to nearly one-third of the farmer's burley crop, Seebold said. "And you can bet that he shouldn't be the only one in that area" hit by the outbreak, Seebold told The Associated Press. "It's kind of alarming because we've had some really good blue mold-type weather as of late." The first confirmed case in Kentucky comes after reports of a "small-scale" blue mold outbreak in East Tennessee recently, Seebold said. Recent wet, cooler-than-normal weather in Kentucky has been ideal to spark a blue mold outbreak, which can expand as spores spread from field to field. The disease can cut yields and becomes expensive to contain. Because of weather patterns, Seebold encouraged Kentucky tobacco farmers east of the outbreak to apply fungicides to fields as a precaution. He urged growers to the west to "be on your toes" and check fields. The favorable weather for blue mold has made farmers edgy about the threat of an outbreak. "We've been watching for it every day," said Clark County grower Shane Wiseman, who has about 50 acres of burley, an ingredient in cigarettes. "It's another cost we have to add on to production, and it's a big cost." Wiseman hasn't seen any signs of blue mold in his fields, but said if cool, overcast weather persists, he'll likely have to spray fungicides on his tobacco plants weekly to ward off the disease. The outbreak had the farmer longing for hot, dry weather. "The sun is the best cure," he said. In 1998, a blue mold outbreak cost him about $10,000 in lost burley production, despite having spent thousands of dollars to treat his crop with fungicides, Wiseman said. The disease has affected tobacco earnings for many Kentucky farmers in the past. A blue mold outbreak cost Kentucky growers an estimated $200 million in 1996, when tobacco production was considerably higher. The first outbreak this week in Kentucky comes amid early signs of a good tobacco crop. Nearly three-fourths of the state's crop was rated good or excellent in the latest weekly update from the National Agricultural Statistics Service's Kentucky field office. Enditem