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BurleyTobaccoCuringAdvisory
JohnWilhoit,BiosystemsandAgriculturalEngineering
BobPearce,PlantandSoilSciences
Asweprogressthroughthisyearstobaccoharvestseason,itisimportanttokeepin
mindthemanagementtechniquesrequiredforpropercuringoftobacco.Wetweatherinthe
springdelayedplantingandwetweatherthisfallhasdelayedharvestsuchthatasignificant
curingmanagementistopromotetheenvironmentalconditionsofmoistureandtemperature
thatoptimizethecuringprocesstoproducethebestqualityleafforprocessing.Beyondthe
curingfacilitieslocationanddesignphase,therearethreemainmanagementinputsthataffect
curing:1)howtheharvestisscheduled,2)howthetobaccoishung,and3)controlling
ventilationinbarnsorothercuringfacilitiestoaffectrelativehumidityandairmovement
throughthetobacco.Thisadvisoryisintendedtoreviewthebasicprinciplesofaircuring
tobaccotohelpgrowersoptimizethecuringprocess.Inaddition,timelyinformationspecificto
lateharvestedburleytobaccoispresented.
TimelyInformation
1. Muchofthisyearscropislarge,wet,turgidtobaccosuchthatitwillneedmorespace
forcuring.Inparticular,growersneedtowatchtheoverlap,notshinglingthegreentips
ofonerailincontactwiththedrierflyingsofthenextrail,becausethatiswhere
houseburngenerallystarts.SeethesectiononManagingtheCuringProcessformore
specificstickspacingrecommendations.
2. Contracts/buyersarelikelytobemorecriticalonqualitythisyearbecauseofthe
expectedincreaseintobaccosupplycombinedwithalikelyreductionindemanddueto
theeconomicdownturn.Growersshouldmanagecuringcarefullytogetthebestleaf
quality.
3. Astheconsolidationofproductioncontinues,growerswithlargeacreagesmaybecome
moreinterestedintechnologythatcanhelpthembettercontrolenvironmental
conditionsforbothcuringandconditioningtobacco.Variouspublicationswith
informationontheuseoffans,relativehumiditymeasurementinstruments,and
steamer/humidifiersareavailablefromtheUKBiosystemsandAgriculturalEngineering
Departmentwebsiteatwww.bae.uky.edu/Publications/EXT/pubs_Tobacco.htm.
4. Delaysinplantingandharvestingmeanthatmuchofthecropwillbecuredlaterthan
normalresultinginadditionalcuringchallenges.Averagedailytemperaturesbelow50F
duringthefirsttwoweeksofcuringmayresultingreenishcasttothecuredleafcolor.
ReviewofCuringBasics
Theprocessofaircuringburleyanddarktobaccochangesthetobaccoleafschemical
andphysicalpropertiesfromthegreenandyellowishstagestotanandbrownaromaticleaffor
processing.Mostofthechangesoccurduringthefirstfourweeksofcuring(approximatelytwo
weeksforyellowing,twoweeksforbrowning)andaltermanycompoundsinthegreenleaf.
Burleysqualityisinfluencedbymoistureandtemperatureconditionsinsidethecuring
facilityduringthecuringperiod.Steadyoraveragedailyhumidityinthe7275%rangeis
consideredoptimumforproducingthequalityoftobaccoleavescurrentlydesiredbythe
industry.Theoptimumtemperatureisconsideredtobeinarangeofmeandailytemperatures
from65to90F.Notethatthemeandailytemperatureandrelativehumidityistheaverageof
thehighandlowfortheday,sothetemperatureandrelativehumiditycanbeproperforgood
curingeveniftheextremesarewelloutsidetheacceptedrange.DuringthenormallateAugust
andSeptembercuringseasoninKentucky,thetemperaturegenerallystayswithintheoptimum
range.Therelativehumiditytendstocycleconsiderablyoutsidetheoptimumrangeonadaily
basis,fromnear100%duringheavydewandfoggynightsanddroppingto4050%duringthe
heatoftheday.Theaverageormeanrelativehumidity,however,tendstoremaininthat
optimumrangeof7075F.
Duringcuring,thetobaccoisundergoingadryingprocessasitexchangesmoisturewith
theambientairuntilthemoisturecontentoftheleafisinequilibriumwiththerelative
humidityoftheambientair.Relativehumidity,airflow,andtemperatureinteracttoaffect
dryingoftobacco.Ofthethree,airflowismainonewecancontrolduringcuring,byopening
andclosingventilationopeningsinthebarn.Agoodburleybarnhasto1/3ofthesidewallas
ventilatoropenings.Togetthebestleafcharacteristicsresultingfromthecuringprocess,wedo
notwantthetobaccotodrytoofast.Duringdryconditions,wecanslowthedryingprocessby
closingventilation.Veryhumidandhotweathercanleadtohouseburn,resultinginadark
leafwithexcessivelossindryweight(duetotheactionofmicroorganismsthatcausesoftrot).
Inhouseburningweather,wewantthetobaccotodryasmuchaspossible,sotheventilators
shouldbekeptopentoincreaseairflow.
ManagingtheCuringProcess
Asmentionedpreviously,themainmanagementinputsthataffectcuringareharvest
scheduling,howthetobaccoishung,andcontrollingventilation/airflow.Asfarasscheduling,
earlytomidAugustisnotthebesttimetobehangingtobaccoinbarnsbecausethehot,humid
weatherandlowwindvelocitiesbothdayandnightarenotgoodformoistureremovaland
curingoffreshlyhousedtobacco.Theseconditionscanpromotehouseburn.Themoderate
temperaturesandlowerhumidityoflateAugustandthroughoutSeptemberarebetterforgood
curingofburley.So,ifyoucanmanagetowaituntilearlytomidSeptemberforcutting,you
haveabetterchanceofgoodcuringconditions.Also,itisbesttoschedulecuttingsoastoget
maximumfieldwiltingtimeformoistureandweightloss.Fieldwiltingforafewdaysresultsin
considerablemoistureandweightloss,resultinginbothbetterhandlingandcuring.
Tobaccoshouldonlybehousedwhenthedew,rain,andothersurfacemoisturehas
completelydriedfromtheplant.Surfacemoisturecanquicklycausehouseburnproblems.Itis
importantthattheplantsbeshakenoutandspreadonthesticktountangleleaveswhen
positioningthestickontherails.Sticksshouldbehungtoallowspacebetweenplantsforair
circulationandmoistureremoval.Forcloselyspacedrailswheretobaccowilllikelyoverlap,
staggerandspacestickssothegreentipsofonerailwillnotbeshingledincontactwiththe
drierflyingsofthenextrail.Withlargetobaccoplants,especiallycloseattentionshouldbepaid
tothispotentialoverlap.Forbarnswithtierrailslessthan4ftapartvertically,youmightwant
toskipeveryotherrailverticallyandhangthetobaccocloserontherailstopreventthis
overlap.Sticksshouldbespacedasfarapartaspossibleontherailforgoodnaturalventilation,
dependingonthecropsizeandbarnspaceavailable.Genrally,astickspacingof1012in.is
usedfortallerconventionalbarnswithtierrailsspaced3to4ftapart,78in.forthethreetier
aircurebarnswith45ftverticaltierrailspacing,and67in.forthespecialtwotierforcedair
designswith55ftverticalspacing.
Fornormal,humidweatherconditionsduringthefirst2to3weeksofcuring,leave
ventilatorsandbarndoorswideopentomaximizeairmovement,excepttoprotecttobacco
fromblowingrain.Afterthefirst34weeksofcuring,theleaflaminabecomesmostlybrown
andfairlydry,andthefatmidribsalsoarebeginningtodry.Atthistime,youcanbeginto
closethedoorseachnighttoreducehumidityenteringthebarn.Openthedoorseachmorning
tocontinuethedailydryingprogress.
TobaccoharvestedinlateSeptemberorearlyOctoberpresentsadditionalchallengesfor
curing.Iftheweatherisespeciallydryduringthefirst34weeks,thetobaccomaydrytoofast,
causingagreenishorpiebaldcolortobesetintheleaf.Ifthisisthecase,closealldoorsin
thedaytimetoretainallmoisturepossibleandopenatnighttoletanyhumidityinthebarn.
Cool,dry,windyweatherduringlateSeptemberandearlyOctobercancauseabnormallyfast
curing,resultinginagreenishcolorbeingsetinleavesthatarestillinthegreenoryellowgreen
stage.Whenevertheairtemperaturedropsbelow60Fandtobaccoisstillinthegreenand
yellowstageofcuring,theventilatordoorsshouldbeclosedtoreducetheeffectsofthiscold
weather.Duringperiodsofhighhumidityventilatorsshouldremainopen.
CuringinFieldStructures
Tobaccohunginfieldstructuresismuchmoreopentoairmovementthanthatinbarns,
andthereisnowaytocloseoffairmovementtomuchofanyextentinanattempttohold
moisturein.Theonlypossibilityforcontrolisraisingandloweringoverhangingplasticonthe
sidesofplasticcoveredfieldstructures.Theonlyrealbenefitofloweringthesidecoverswillbe
toprotectthetobaccofromwindandraindamage,whichcanseverelydarkenanddeteriorate
theouterleaves(butoftendoesnotseriouslyaffectmarketprice).
Fortunately,naturalconditionsinKentuckyhaveprovedtobeconduciveforgoodcuring
infieldstructuresdespitetheopennessandlackofcontrol.Apparently,becauseofthe
opennessandthefactthatthetobaccoishangingovergrass,themoistureisbetterableto
moveintothehangingtobaccoduringthenightthaninbarns.Inthedaytime,itisbetterifthe
sidecoversareleftopenbecausewhentheyaredown,theextraheatgeneratedbytheblack
plasticcausestheenclosedareatogethotter,contributingtoexcessivedrying.Acompromise
betweenactivelyraisingandloweringthesidesdailyistoleavethewindwardsidecovers
longer,forprotectingthetobaccofromstrongerwindsandrain,butleavetheleeward
(downwind)sideopenformoisturepenetrationatnight.
Itisbesttolocatefieldstructurestoprovidesomeshelteronthewindwardside,like
fromabarnorfencerow,toprovidesomeprotectionfromstormsandheavywindstoreduce
thechancesoftheplasticcovergettingrippedoff.Fieldstructurecoversshouldbekeptin
placethroughoutthecuringseason.Ifplasticcoversaretornoff,theyshouldbereplaced.