A powerful late-night storm toppled thousands of tobacco plants at Kent Farms in Connecticut, leaving crews with the massive task of manually righting each stalk just weeks ahead of harvest. Owner James Kent, a fifth-generation farmer, described the aftermath as “doom and gloom,” with 35 acres of plants — roughly 6,600 per acre — flattened by wind and rain. Kent Farms is one of many local operations hit hard by Sunday’s storms, which also caused downed trees and scattered power outages statewide.
“There were branches falling down and all that wind and rain knocked all our tobacco over,” Kent said. “I came out last night… I knew I wouldn’t sleep,”
While the storm brought welcome rain for much of Connecticut, Kent said his fields didn’t need the extra moisture. Additional precipitation could further stress the already fragile crop. While Connecticut Shade and Connecticut Broadleaf make up only 5% of the premium cigar wrappers used worldwide, it is a prestigious and highly valued crop.
The recovery is expected to take several days, as workers navigate the dense, tall rows typical of tobacco fields to reposition plants by hand.
