Kentucky tobacco: A look back, a look ahead

(southeastfarmpress.com) ... Lower production, tight quality stocks, stabilizing use, and a decent quality crop will likely cause top‐quality contracted U.S. burley prices to rebound back into the $1.70s and $1.80s per pound for the 2011‐12 marketing season after the extremely poor quality 2010 crop averaged $1.50 per pound.
Limited auction offerings of good‐quality burley should also sell well in this marketing environment.
Dark tobacco producers continued to benefit from growing domestic snuff sales (increasing around 5 percent annually) as consumers responded to successful marketing efforts, new products introduced by smokeless tobacco companies, smoking restrictions, and perceptions of lower health risks for smokeless products relative to cigarettes. Continued

Photo: A traditional black Kentucky tobacco barn. Black barns raise the heat inside, aiding the curing of tobacco. Many got their color from creosote, which repelled termites. Soon many Kentucky barns were painted black just as a fashion statement. (Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress).