Kentucky: Blue Mold Spotted in More than 40 Kentucky Counties

Source from:  AP 07/05/2004

Blue mold has been spotted on tobacco leaves in more than 40 Kentucky counties and a University of Kentucky tobacco-pathology specialist said the potential for an epidemic is strong. Recent wet, humid weather has ripened conditions for the spread of the contagious fungus. Rainfall in parts of central and eastern Kentucky were 1 to 3 inches above normal for June, while the 12.5 inches of rain recorded during May and June made it the eighth-wettest period on record. William Nesmith, the UK tobacco pathology specialist, said the stage is set for a widespread outbreak. If treated early enough, lesions on young plants can be contained. But if the fungus spreads, it can eat holes through tobacco leaves, reducing growers' yields by thousands of pounds and millions of dollars. Blue mold is generally carried by prevailing winds from the south and southwest, but can also be spread by farmers who transplant infected tobacco into their fields. Warm weather helps control its spread. 'As long as we have bright sunlight and particularly hot days and warm nights -- warm nights being above 70 (degrees) and days being in the upper 80s -- we can keep it in check,' said Glenn Mackie, Bourbon County's extension agent for agriculture and natural resources. Last summer at this time, only two cases of blue mold had been reported. With blue mold on the rise earlier this year, Mackie and other extension agents are encouraging growers to apply chemicals. For young plants, farmers can spray a fungicide that targets and keeps the fungus in check. Once plants exceed 18 inches tall, they can switch to another chemical that boosts plants' immune systems and makes the tobacco less susceptible to blue mold. 'Most of the farmers are very concerned,' said Tommy Yankey, an Anderson County extension agent. 'The younger the tobacco is, typically the more damage it does to the crop. It typically has a tendency to go systemic,' attacking the stems of plants and harming their vascular systems. A systemic infection usually causes more damage, Yankey said. Growers might not have the equipment to spray their fields or elect to wait for hot, sunny weather. Others might wait for more lesions to appear on their plants before starting to apply chemicals. That can be a problem, said Mackie. Standing in Mason's tobacco field, he spotted a blue-mold lesion on a tobacco plant leaf. 'That spore right there, though, that got infected four or five days ago,' he said. 'How many infections are out on these plants right now that aren't obvious yet?' Some extension agents say letting blue mold spread can be a windfall for farmers looking to collect on crop insurance policies. Nesmith said farmers' reluctance to spray is a combination of several factors, but the result is risky. 'It's kind of like having fuel in the field and a fuse running from outside the field, and you don't know how long that fuse is,' Nesmith said. Henry County agent Steve Moore said he continues to remind growers to treat their burley fields for blue mold. He estimates that Henry County farmers lost an average of several hundred pounds of tobacco per acre last summer. 'Weather is the trump and most of our farmers are letting the weather dictate what they get,' Moore said. 'They are not actively trying to control this disease.' In Bourbon County, Mackie has notified growers about the blue-mold risk through newsletters. Bourbon led all Kentucky counties with 6.4 million pounds of tobacco sold last year and has an effective quota of 6 million pounds this year, Mackie said. Still, he estimates that only about 20 percent of farmers spray to ward off blue mold. 'We're at the point now where it's building to where it's becoming more obvious,' he said. 'So those folks that weren't going to spray -- they're seeing they're going to have to.' Enditem