​A Kentucky Tradition

         What comes to mind when asked what the state of Kentucky is known for? Most people will answer horse racing, basketball, bourbon, or Bluegrass music. One thing that doesn’t usually come to mind is tobacco. Tobacco is grown in an eight state band through the southeastern United States and only North Carolina produces more tobacco each year than Kentucky. There are actually two types of tobacco grown in Kentucky, burley tobacco and dark-leaf tobacco. Burley is a light colored tobacco plant that is usually air cured and used for the production of cigarettes. On the other hand, dark-leaf tobacco has a darker color than burley and is commonly used for the production of chewing tobacco and snuff because it has more flavor. Tobacco is a very profitable crop and the production of tobacco plays an important role for the state of Kentucky and the University of Kentucky.