Plantings down

The United States Department of Agriculture published its annual Prospective Planting Report and reported that the estimates for tobacco plantings are expected to total 244,040 acres, down 16 percent from 2018.

Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative General Manager Steve Pratt attributes the decline to the trend of fewer people smoking, and the rising popularity of vaping. Pratt explained that some tobacco companies have downsized or canceled contracts to buy the crop this past year, causing some farmers to either quit growing it or switch to other products like livestock or hemp.