2026 - A "tricky" year for tobacco growers
Source: Kentucky Farm Bureau
Generally speaking, when the weather favors grain crop production during a growing season, the same cannot be said for the state’s tobacco crop, and that was somewhat the case in 2026.
However, University of Kentucky Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment’s Tobacco Extension Specialist Andy Bailey said that, despite some tricky weather conditions, there have been good tobacco crops going into the barns.
“It’s been very unusual this year, and I can't remember a spring that was as dry as it was, up through the 20th of May, and then we had wet conditions through parts of August,” he said. “It’s a good crop, but it has a lot of water in it, and that usually means it will probably look better than it really is. It will likely be light in weight.”
Producers continually monitor for disease in their tobacco crops, and this year, Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV) showed up in bigger numbers than normally seen in Kentucky.
Bailey said it is a destructive plant disease caused by an Orthotospovirus, spread by tiny insects called thrips.
“It leads to yellow or brown spots, ring patterns on leaves, leaf twisting, and plant wilting,” he said. “Early infections lower crop yield and quality, but there is no direct cure once a plant is infected.”
In general, Kentucky tobacco producers have not had to deal with a widespread TSWV issue in most years. The percentage of plants affected increased this growing season.
“Normally, our percent of infection in a given field in Kentucky is around a half of a percent,” Bailey said. “If we get to one percent, that’s high in this state, but this year was quite a bit more than that. We had some fields in central Kentucky with a 10 to 15 percent infection, on some Burley fields. However, it was not so much in West Kentucky with dark tobacco.”
Kentucky Farm Bureau Second Vice President Larry Clark, who raises about 280 acres of burley tobacco, said TSWV was more prevalent in his crop this year than in the past.
“It was scattered in different places with no widespread infection in any one field, but it will have somewhat of an impact on the crop,” he said. “We still think it's going to be a pretty decent crop, but we don’t know about the weight having had so much rain.”
As much as diseases like TSWV are a concern for growers, Clark said the biggest challenge tobacco producers face is labor. Tobacco is grown and harvested in much the same way as it has always been—a very labor-intensive crop, with most producers relying heavily on migrant laborers, specifically the H-2A guest worker program.
“It can be a difficult process getting through the H-2A program, but labor continues to be our biggest challenge as tobacco producers, and we must have these workers to help with production,” he said.
Despite the issues producers face, Clark said tradition still plays an important role in raising tobacco year after year.
“We’ve raised tobacco on our family farm for generations, and I expect we will continue to do so as long as there is a market for it,” he said.
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