Canada: Tobacco Growers Grappling with Harvest Delay

Source from:  Brantford Expositor 09/05/2014

Tobacco growers are counting on the hot weather of the past week to help finish a crop that was delayed often by adverse weather this year.

"The harvesting is delayed this year," said Fred Neukamm, chairman of the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers' Marketing Board, said Thursday.

"At this point, we still have in excess of 50% of the crop still to be harvested."

Neukamm attributed the delay mainly to weather.

"It's been a very unusual summer, with many challenges for this year's crop," he said.

This year, the board approved licences for 241 growers to plant a total crop of 21,000 acres with an anticipated harvest of 57 million pounds in the tobacco patch area of Brant, Norfolk, Oxford, Elgin and Middlesex counties.

From seeding their greenhouses to transplanting to the fields, growers were delayed at the onset by unseasonably cool temperatures, said Neukamm. The cool temperatures continued through July into August, slowing growth.

"There were very few days in the high 20C range that I can remember," he said.

Nature also handed growers higher than normal levels of rainfall.

"In some ways that's good because growers could save on irrigation costs this year," said Neukamm.

"But it can be bad because damp fields can bring crop diseases."

He said that, in consultations with the research team, he has been advised that there have been no serious disease problems this year.

So far, growers have been harvesting on the bottoms of plants, and some are ripening before they're fully grown, said Neukamm.

"We've had a good week of warm temperatures, which will help the tops grow out better. Let us hope we get more of that."　Enditem