About 50 Kentucky counties have confirmed cases of blue mold on tobacco.

But a University of Kentucky plant pathologist said the crop loss may not be as severe as in past outbreaks because of farmers' preventive efforts to treat their plants.

"It seems to still be pretty active," said tobacco pathologist Kenny Seebold. Most of the blue-mold reports are from Eastern and Central Kentucky.

Blue-mold spores eat holes through leaves and reduce growers' yields -- potentially destroying a crop.

But this year's loss is expected to be low to moderate, Seebold said, thanks to growers' use of fungicides.

"I think it could be a lot worse," he said. "… As widespread as it is, the reports of severe losses are a lot less than we expected."

A blue-mold outbreak in 1996 cost Kentucky growers an estimated $200 million.

The state's last sizable outbreak was two years ago when more than 40 counties had confirmed cases by July. But it did not significantly impact the harvest.

The high-risk period should pass roughly in the next two weeks as farmers finish topping their tobacco, Seebold said.
Growers need to "keep their guard up until they get their crop topped," he said.

Although the weather was hot and dry early this month, helping to reduce the risk of blue mold, cool and rainy spells have allowed spores to survive and spread, he said.

Seebold previously said he believes that most of the state's blue-mold problems this year originated in plants shipped from out of state.

Most of those infections are believed to have occurred when the plants were in float systems before being set in fields.

Dean Wallace, executive director of the Council for Burley Tobacco in Lexington, said shipped-in plants represent a small portion of the state's crop but put the entire crop at risk.

The council is looking at ways to prevent outbreaks, Wallace said, adding that there might need to be a ban on shipments from states where tobacco can overwinter.

Even if the loss of yield isn't as dire as in some past outbreaks, Wallace said the price of chemicals to treat the tobacco is steep.

"It's cost our farmers an awful lot of money," he said.
 
 

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