Email This Story
Print This StoryWisconsin Farmers Starting To Grow Tobacco Crop
Phillip Morris Investing In Burley Tobacco Test Plots
POSTED: 8:41 pm CDT August 2,
2006
UPDATED: 10:01 pm CDT August 2,
2006
MADISON, Wis. -- For the first time, Wisconsin farmers are growing Burley Tobacco, a plant used mainly for cigarettes.
VIDEO: Watch The ReportIf all goes well, the crop could mean a new era in Wisconsin's tobacco farming. Burley Tobacco has jump started the Lund brothers' farming careers, WISC-TV reported."This crop here has paid for many, many bills for farmers around here. Your taxes, your college educations, your school supplies for kids, cars, your insurance ... many, many things," said Jim Lund, a tobacco farmer.And now, the Lunds hope the 2 acres of Burley tobacco is another new beginning.After discovering lower levels of cancer causing chemicals in Wisconsin's tobacco crop, the Phillip Morris Company is investing test plots for Burley tobacco in Dane and Rock counties.The Lunds said the success of the crop could change the farming landscape in the area."You will be seeing a lot more fields this size grown through Cambridge, Deerfield, Edgerton, Stoughton. Many, many local areas around here will be growing this crop again, and you'll be seeing many families sticking into it again," Lund said.The biggest test for farmers is protecting the tobacco against blue mold, which is a spore that's been creeping up to Wisconsin from as far south as Cuba."We grow about a thousand acres of tobacco in Dane County annually. That thousand acres could be completely lost to blue mold in less than two weeks time," said David Fischer, a crops and soils agent with the University of Wisconsin-Extension.The Lunds said tobacco is an extremely labor intensive crop but its potential in Wisconsin can go a long way."I've talked to my banker about it and he said for the past thirty years, tobacco was a dying crop," said Dennis Lund, a tobacco farmer. "But every year, there's a new avenue that opens up, and all of a sudden, we're right back at it again."Currently, top grade Burley tobacco can sell for $1.75 per pound. Experts said one acre of tobacco can bring in about 10 times the gross income of an acre of corn.
VIDEO: Watch The ReportIf all goes well, the crop could mean a new era in Wisconsin's tobacco farming. Burley Tobacco has jump started the Lund brothers' farming careers, WISC-TV reported."This crop here has paid for many, many bills for farmers around here. Your taxes, your college educations, your school supplies for kids, cars, your insurance ... many, many things," said Jim Lund, a tobacco farmer.And now, the Lunds hope the 2 acres of Burley tobacco is another new beginning.After discovering lower levels of cancer causing chemicals in Wisconsin's tobacco crop, the Phillip Morris Company is investing test plots for Burley tobacco in Dane and Rock counties.The Lunds said the success of the crop could change the farming landscape in the area."You will be seeing a lot more fields this size grown through Cambridge, Deerfield, Edgerton, Stoughton. Many, many local areas around here will be growing this crop again, and you'll be seeing many families sticking into it again," Lund said.The biggest test for farmers is protecting the tobacco against blue mold, which is a spore that's been creeping up to Wisconsin from as far south as Cuba."We grow about a thousand acres of tobacco in Dane County annually. That thousand acres could be completely lost to blue mold in less than two weeks time," said David Fischer, a crops and soils agent with the University of Wisconsin-Extension.The Lunds said tobacco is an extremely labor intensive crop but its potential in Wisconsin can go a long way."I've talked to my banker about it and he said for the past thirty years, tobacco was a dying crop," said Dennis Lund, a tobacco farmer. "But every year, there's a new avenue that opens up, and all of a sudden, we're right back at it again."Currently, top grade Burley tobacco can sell for $1.75 per pound. Experts said one acre of tobacco can bring in about 10 times the gross income of an acre of corn. Copyright 2006 by Channel 3000. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
