Released: February 8, 2019

Tennessee Dark Air-cured Tobacco Production Hits Record High,
Burley Tobacco Harvested Acreage Drops to Record Low

Production of Tennessee dark fire-cured tobacco is estimated at 23.2 million pounds, up 10 percent from the previous year. Dark air-cured tobacco production is estimated at 7.42 million pounds, up 86 percent from last year.

Tennessee burley tobacco production is estimated at 9.01 million pounds, down 50 percent from 2017. Yield was estimated at 1,700 pounds per acre, up 200 pounds from the 2017 crop. Harvested acreage was estimated at 5,300 acres, down 6,700 acres from last year’s crop. U.S. production is estimated at 100.4 million pounds, down 38 percent from last year. Burley growers harvested 61,050 acres, down 25 percent from 2017. Yields were estimated at 1,645 pounds per acre, down 332 pounds from last year.

Corn production in Tennessee is estimated at 116 million bushels, down 5 percent from the previous crop. Yield was estimated at 168 bushels per acre, down 3 bushels from the 2017 level. Planted acreage was 730,000 acres, up 10,000 acres from last year. Acres for harvest as grain were estimated at 690,000 acres, down 20,000 acres from 2017. U.S. corn production is estimated at 14.4 billion bushels, down 1 percent from 2017. Yields averaged 176.4 bushels per acre, down 0.2 bushels from 2017. Area harvested for grain was estimated at 81.7 million acres, down 1 percent from 2017. Continue reading at PRJAN19_TN.