Canada: Chatham-Kent Leads in Black Tobacco Production

Source from:  Chatham Daily News  09/26/2014

As this summer has come to a close, I hope you have been able to get out and explore some of Chatham-Kent's unique attractions and features. We have so much to do and to see here in our great community.

In fact, our farmers grow over 70 different crops throughout Chatham-Kent. Two of those crops are flue cured tobacco and black tobacco. The flue cured tobacco is grown in the northeast region of Chatham-Kent, while the black tobacco is grown mostly south of Highway 3, between Kent Bridge and Cedar Springs.

The flue cured tobacco is used for cigarettes. We have about four farmers who grow about 200 acres of this tobacco. The black tobacco is primarily used for cigars, cigar wrappers, and snuff. Chatham-Kent has about 60 farmers who grow approximately 2,000 acres of black tobacco, along with about 250 smoke barns. These crops bring hundreds of thousands of dollars into our local economy every year. In fact, Chatham-Kent is the number one producer of black tobacco in all of Canada.

Flue cured tobacco uses a forced air system in kilns to cure the tobacco, which takes about 10 days. The leaves go into the kiln green and come out yellow. This product is then shipped to buyers in Canada and the U.S. and the finished product is shipped throughout North America and around the world. In Ontario, we produce around 45 million 50 million pounds of flue cured tobacco, and a decent yield would be 3,000 pounds per acre.

The black tobacco utilizes smoke barns to cure the tobacco leaves. The smoking process changes the tobacco leaves from green to brown in three separate burnings over a span of six to eight weeks. The three burnings are for colouring, flavouring, and drying.

The smoke barns are located fairly close together because the tobacco is grown in a small geographic area of South Chatham-Kent. Our tobacco farmers try to be as considerate as they can to their neighbours when it comes to the smoke, but they also need to dry the tobacco in a short period of time for quality reasons.

Tobacco is a very labour-intensive crop. Most of our tobacco farmers use a combination of local and offshore labour. It is difficult for our growers to find local labour for their total needs, so they have to rely on workers from outside of Canada. These offshore workers certainly add to our local community and to our economy, as they purchase and send goods back to their home country.

Take a drive this weekend and look at some of the agriculture harvesting taking place. But please drive safely and be aware of slower moving farm machinery on our roads. Our Chatham-Kent farmers try to be as considerate as they can during their busy harvest times. But we also need to be supportive and understanding of their business practises. Good neighbours support each other.

Think about this – The cross is the only ladder high enough to touch Heaven's threshold.

Just some food for thought. Enditem