A2O-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 6,1990
Tobacco Farming Tips
(Continued from Page A 1)
co, and two, the information pro
vided at the show can be of help to
tobacco farmers. Besides, the
judge didn’ t want anybody looking
over his shoulder.” Geoffrey
Ranck, president of the Domestic
Tobacco Company in Lancaster,
judged the exhibits.
About 36 farmers and vocation
al agriculture students exhibited in
18 classes at the show. Each exhi
bit consisted of “hands” made out
of 16 leaves —l5 tied together by
a final leaf.
Grand champion crop
“I really enjoy raising tobac
co,” said Mike Mellott, 21, of
Peach Bottom, who raised his Pen
nsylvania Type 41 filler grand
champion crop on 314 acres.
Winning the grand champion
award in the vo-ag category means
a lot to Mike. The champion uses
special curing with good open ven
tilation and lots of patience to pro
vide a smooth texture and dark col
or to the crop, used in cigar and
chewing tobacco.
This was Mike’s first grand
championship, even though he has
exhibited during the summer at
Solanco and West Lampeter fairs.
Mike admits having help from his
family and doing a “lot of hard
work that really paid otf.” He
wants to plant an additional acre of
tobacco this year.
In open class competition,
Donald M. Rohrer earned two
grand champion awards for Penn
41 binder and wrapper tobacco. J.
Richard Groff won a grand champ
ion for the finest middle one-third
Maryland-type leaf.
Beware of crop disease
In order to grow a healthy crop,
farmers must beware of early crop
disease or pest infestation. This
past season’s unusually wet and
warm weather spelled near disaster
for many area tobacco farmers.
A chief concern is the ravages
caused by tobacco aphids, which
must be treated early in the season,
preferably around July 4. Especial
ly hard hit was the Maryland crop,
which comprised more than 8,500
acres, or 1,280 pounds per acre,
down 1 million pounds from last
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year.
“The dollar acre return will not
be as good this year as last,” said
Claude McKee, tobacco specialist
at the University of Maryland.
‘ ‘Take-home dollar per acre is just
not there. We’ve had record rain
fall problems and at the end of the
season a great deal of nitrogen
wash out.”
For Pennsylvania-type tobacco
farmers, worldwide consumption
and demand are up. But along with
the increased demand, fanners
must be wary of possible diseases
that can be devastating to their
plants.
Ravages of blue mold
“I shudder to think about the
possible ravages of blue mold,”
said Dr. Arvydas Grybauskas,
plant pathologist at the University
of Maryland. “The worst blue
mold breakout was in 1979, but
conditions are right for the disease
to start here again. There is poten
tial damage any time in the season.
Furadan
Gramoxone
Lasso
Las so-Atrazine
Lorox
from transplating to harvest. And it
doesn’t take much to spread this.
One-million fungus ‘pods’ can
spread in six hours and over long
distance.”
Grybauskas believes farmers
should provide preplanting soil
treatment and use standard pest
and disease control measures to
stop the spread of blue mold,
including the compounds Feibam
and Ridamil.
Other plant diseases, including
wildfire and angular leaf spot,
anthracnose, and damping off
should be detected and treated
immediately.
A combination of site history,
location, fumigation, weed con
trol, proper irrigation, and chemi
cal control should help most far
mers. Of prime importance also is
sanitary topping and bedding
procedures.
Two new diseases
Two new diseases also have
appeared, baffling many of the
experts: rhizoctonia target spot, a
(Turn to Pago A 32)
• Superior yield potential,
producing a top-quality
fine-stemmed forage.
• Excellent seedling vigor.
• Proven winterhardiness;
good stand persistence;
rapid recovery.
• Highly resistant to bac
terial and Fusarium wilts
and spotted alfalfa
aphid; resistant to Ver
ticillium wilt and pea
aphid; moderately
resistant to Phytophthora
root rot.
Mike Mellon displays a hand of his grand champion
Pennsylvania Type 41 filler tobacco at the Farm and Home
Center Wednesday.
5432
New! 5262
• Best winterhardiness in
Pioneer lineup.
• Fine-stemmed plants
produce four or more
cuttings per year in
adapted areas.
• Protects against
Phytophthora root rot;
allows seeding on poorly
drained soils.
• High resistance to bac
terial wilt, pea aphid and
spotted alfalfa aphid.
5331
• Features fast regrowth
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• A medium-fall dormant
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• Has high resistance to
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resistance to anthracnose
(Race 2); and resistance
to Phytophthora root rot
and pea aphid.