Raising tobacco

[plowjockey]

Anyone out there raise tobacco? Any money to be made?

Noticed that there are some small plots and small drying barns in So. Indiana. Not sure how far north it can be grown.

I have heard that the govt. subsidies are gone, but there is a decent export market, so the prices are pretty good.

[Danaus29]

I don't know about Indiana but in Ohio you can grow it only for your own use. Can't sell or even give it away.

[LauraG]

WOW. That's pretty extreem for a legal substance.

[luvrulz]

It's still grown here in Ky - we don't grow it - we prefer other crops that you only plant once....like blueberries and asparagus! Not sure about the price for tobacco, but could find out. We're in zone 6 and it's grown plenty!

[Danaus29]

LauraG, probably because the govt can't get the tax money from private sales.

[clovis]

Last year, there was a very interesting article in the Wall Street Journal about growing tobacco.

After the govt. changes, lots of farmers left the business, leaving a shortage of growers and therefore tobacco supply, so the price jumped up quite a bit. The story also featured a guy in Illinios that was growing alot of it, and had planted a BUNCH of acres because it paid so well. The cigarette company provided the seedling, and was guaranteeing the purchase of the whole crop.

I don't know a thing about raising tobacco, but the article was interesting to read!

[clovis]

Last year, there was a very interesting article in the Wall Street Journal about growing tobacco.

After the govt. changes, lots of farmers left the business, leaving a shortage of growers and therefore tobacco supply, so the price jumped up quite a bit. The story also featured a guy in Illinios that was growing alot of it, and had planted a BUNCH of acres because it paid so well. The cigarette company provided the seedling, and was guaranteeing the purchase of the whole crop.

I don't know a thing about raising tobacco, but the article was interesting to read!

[RiverPines]

You have to check your local laws.
Here it is against the law to sell it. We can only grow up to 100 plants for personal use.

If you dont bother with checking laws, you risk hefty fines.

[francismilker]

Often thought of growing some chaw for myself like my great uncle used to do. Problem is, I'm not sure how this SE Oklahoma weather would do for it. I wouldn't need too much I figure. Just enough for a plug a day. I guess that'd be 365 tobacco leaves eh?

[Sawmill Jim]

Takes good dirt to grow tobacco .Other than that your weather is much the same as ours . Old timers made twists out of dark fired tobacco ..

Been thinking about selling some for bug control purposes you know to shred an put around cabbage plants

[EDDIE BUCK]

http://www.seedman.com/TobaccoQA.htm also http://www.seedman.com/Tobacco.htm

[luvrulz]

Doesn't take good soil - it takes *lots* of chemicals and you can't grow Jack afterwards cuz your soil is so messed up from all the junk you have to put on the tobacco!

[Danaus29]

I'll have to ask my mom about the particulars of growing tobacco without the chemicals. Grandpa grew acres and acres of it before all these new-fangled sprays and dusts came into being. You do have to inspect the crop on a regular basis and pull off and kill the tobacco worms. You have to cut the "suckers" off by hand. You have to spread a lot of manure on the field. Other than being high maintenance I don't think tobacco is any harder to grow than tomatoes. Mom says the hard part is the harvesting and drying. They cut and stacked those plants by hand.

[used2bcool13]

My grandfather grew some for himself and dried it hanging from the roof rafters in the shed.

[Old John]

In Franklin County, IN, there were quite a few Tobacco Growers. Each was allotted a "Base", in tenths or later hundreths of an acre.
My parents had 1.6 acres. There were 9 of us kids in the Family, 8 boys & 1 DSis. Later the Base was set by the poundage. We'd average 2000 to 2400 an acre.
Tobacco is work intensive. We would make the plant beds in late March. they were covered with thick cheese cloth, called tobacco canvas. the beds were
generally 12'x 100'. Originally they were burned, with logs & tires, to sterilize the weed seeds out each year. In later years we'd use an organic phosphate, under a plasic sheet for the purpose.

But from the seed beds in March, you would get the Crop on the Market, in
mid to late December. And it required constant management.It paid for our Christmas each year.
My next to youngest D Brudder bought the Farm, lock stock & barrel when Dad had a stroke.He'd been the one farming it all, anyway.
He raised the tobacco a few years, after buying the place. But it took time from his day-job, and he took the Government Buy-out, for Cash.
All he has on the Farm now is a few cows & calves.
We go visit once a year or so.
I would not raise tobacco ever for myself.

[dixienc]

Originally Posted by luvrulz

Doesn't take good soil - it takes *lots* of chemicals and you can't grow Jack afterwards cuz your soil is so messed up from all the junk you have to put on the tobacco!

Then the guys who just cut there tobacco plants from the fields down from us are doing it wrong. Each year they plant something different in that same field. Last year was corn, year before was soy beans. The people who live next to field even plant some veggies on the edges such as okra and beans and the plants get huge and produce good. Maybe one day when I see em out there I'll ask them what they do different with the soil compared to others.

[Beeman]

Tobacco is a heavy feeder and is susceptible to many diseases. The reason many got out of it is it's a labor intensive crop. Kind of like square baling hay but without any machinery. Tobacco plants used to be gassed to eliminate weeds and then sowed, now with the gas outlawed most plants are purchased from a person with a green house. The plants need setting by hand, not an easy job. With a tractor and setter it's a 3 person job. Then they need cultivating,fertilizing and spraying. Then you top it when it flowers. Then you cut it and "stick" it. Sticking it means you run a tobbacco stake thru the stem and stack the plants on the stake. Then you pick up those heavy stakes full of tobbacco and haul them to the barn for hanging. After being hung until dry they have to "come into case", it takes the right humidity in the air to be able to handle dry tobacco. Then you have to strip and grade the leaves and bale the tobacco into approved size bales and tie it with cotton tobacco baleing rope. I'm sure I've left something out and some working tobacco by hand do get sick from nicotene poisoning. This is for Burley tobacco, there are other types and methods.

[fatrat]

I don't know where some of you get your information about Ohio and Wisconsin but it sure wasn't from the tobacco farmers, USDA or State extension offices. Tobacco has been for many generations and still is grown and sold legally in both Wisconsin and Ohio. Wisconsin is well known for it's cigar binder type that today is used mostly in chewing tobacco and they are now growing and selling burley. Ohio has for generations been known for three types of cigar filler and burely. While the Ohio cigar filler has not been grown for maybe about ten years the Ohio burley tobacco is still being grown a lot in southern Ohio.

With the tobacco quota buyout in I think 2005 it is now legal for anyone to grow and sell commercially any type of tobacco anywhere in the U.S.A. However there may be producer assesments for some types due upon commercial sale of the cured leaf and you would need to contact the USDA to find out for sure.

I have grown many types of tobacco in Southern Ohio since 2003, usually about 800-1000 plants, just for fun. Tobacco will grow anywhere in any soil that will grow tomatoes. It is a LOT OF WORK and properly curing the leaf is very important if you plan to sell it commercialy. If you have never grown tobacco and wish to do so commercialy, you would be best to try a few seasons on a small scale, say not more than a half acre, just to get a little bit of experience before risking the money on a larger crop. You can have a great crop and lose it all in the curing barn if you don't know what you are doing. Likewise you can have a mediocre crop and end up with an excellent crop just by managing the curing barn well. When you plant and how and when you top the tobacco can mean everything to your yield. Just planting early won't mean more yield. In some areas planting what might be considered to late for something like corn would make for more yield in tobacco. Tobacco also doesn't need a lot of water it just needs water at the right time. If you irrigate thinking you will get better yield you could actually reduce yield and quality. Tobacco is a weed and will grow like crazy if properly done but it can also be very finicky if not done right, especially in the curing barn.

Tobacco is a very financialy risky crop to grow if you don't have experience. Most of the tobacco grown today is sold on contract however some is sold at a very few last auctions that are quickly dying out. Also the companies buying on contract will sometimes buy leaf that is just brought in for sale with no contract.



Plowjockey,

What type were you considering growing? If you are in Southern Indiana burley is what is normally grown there. In the past some of the cigar filler types were also grown in Indiana near the Ohio cigar filler region.

[Stephen in SOKY]

I raised Dark Air Cured commercially for years. Leased my Burley base out. This year I raised about 1200 plants to try processing my own to smoke. Once the ground is worked you'd need plants:



And a setter (Transplanter), for any real production you'd want a two row, mine's the older style one row:



Here's what my little patch looked like just after setting:





Then you'll need a good cultivator:



Then you'll need a few chemicals, a PTO powered sprayer & a backpack sprayer to apply them, more fertilizer, lots of help at cutting/housing time, a good baccer stick for each six plants you harvest, a speialized barn sized to accomodate housing of the crop for several months, a warm dry well lit stripping room and more help to remove the leaves into 3 grades during the narrow window of time it's in order (Correct moisture level), three bale boxes, preferably with a pneumatic press for baling and a truck/trailer to transport your crop.

Since my farm and all my equipment was paid for, I managed to make pretty good money with tobacco. However, the first year I didn't raise tobacco I put pumpkins on all my tobacco ground and cleared as much money as I had on the previous years tobacco. Manpower kills you on tobacco unless you've got enough kids to do the work.

ETA: This february a gentleman called me twice & visited me once pleading that he needed someone to raise another 20 acres of DACT. He was willing to contract at a very appealing price. When I repeatedly declined the 20, he tried to convince me to raise 10 acres. Fool that I am, I actually considered it for a brief time.

[Beeman]

The deal now is large growers,Mexican workers and insurance. They almost paray for hail or some damage so they collect but don't work it. They caught some around here destroying their crops themselves so they could collect.