Gilbertsville Live Cam

Tobacco has always been important to the Kentucky economy and Kentucky has been the nation's major Burley-producing state for over a century. Widespread cultivation of Burley originated when two southern Ohio farmers discovered some tobacco plants that were slightly deficient in green coloring. Just three years later this new "white burley" won first and second prizes at the St. Louis Fair in 1867. This new variety could be harvested and cured more rapidly than the older tobacco varieties and thus could be brought to market earlier. Consequently, white burley production spread rapidly, especially in the Bluegrass region.

Now produced throughout Kentucky, Burley tobacco makes up about 18 percent of the volume of tobacco in blended cigarettes of American manufacture and is a significant Kentucky export. Burley is officially classified by the U.S.D.A. as a light, air-cured tobacco. Although Burley is king in Kentucky, significant quantities of other types of tobacco are also produced: Eastern district fire-cured; Western district fire-cured; One Sucker, a dark, air-cured tobacco; and Green River, a dark, air-cured tobacco grown only in western Kentucky near Owensboro.