Connecticut Shade observations

[proteus]

To those in CT. I've noticed since around 2018 less tobacco field planting driving to the airport. With Covid I didn't travel by air for a while. Flew in 2021 and 2022 and didn't see any fields planted. Figured Covid. This year nothing. So contacted Dr. James LaMondia of the Connecticut Agriculture Experimental Station to confirm and waiting on response. It would seem from what I am seeing in the field Connecticut Shade is just non existent. I haven't been able to find CT grown shade except for Ecuadorian leaf to roll my cigars either. This might be old news to some but it's news to me.

 

[RookieGuy80]

Huh. I had always assumed CT Shade was like Virginia or Maryland tobaccos. They may have started there but now they're grown all over.

 

[KingcobraJFS]

I was reading about CT shade on Wikipedia yesterday out of boredom and the page said there were no more large scale growers in Connecticut. There is one in Massachusetts though; maybe he'll become the Mark Ryan of true CT leaf. That part of the page didn't have any sources though, iirc, so take that with a grain of salt.

 

[Egg Shen]

To those in CT. I've noticed since around 2018 less tobacco field planting driving to the airport. With Covid I didn't travel by air for a while. Flew in 2021 and 2022 and didn't see any fields planted. Figured Covid. This year nothing. So contacted Dr. James LaMondia of the Connecticut Agriculture Experimental Station to confirm and waiting on response. It would seem from what I am seeing in the field Connecticut Shade is just non existent. I haven't been able to find CT grown shade except for Ecuadorian leaf to roll my cigars either. This might be old news to some but it's news to me.

There is a lot less being made, I read an article about it. But I forget why.

 

[proteus]

I went down to leafonly today and it seems the broadleaf category is more popular in CT and that Nicaragua is the place for CT shade due to labor. The farmers here in CT don't see a future in shade. Remember though its all opinion. Personally I love CT shade in pipe tobacco, just a bit, perhaps the broadleaf would work in place of DAC but who knows. I have to investigate.

 

[Pooh-Bah]

When I was trying to learn a bit of cigar knowledge a few months ago, the staff at a local B&M chain (Davidus) made extra sure to tell me that their house brand Lord Baltimore Connecticut's wrapper was actually from Connecticut. Which didn't sound particularly noteworthy or interesting until I stumbled on this thread.

 

[proteus]

I was reading about CT shade on Wikipedia yesterday out of boredom and the page said there were no more large scale growers in Connecticut. There is one in Massachusetts though; maybe he'll become the Mark Ryan of true CT leaf. That part of the page didn't have any sources though, iirc, so take that with a grain of salt.

Wiki is nice. I want to get confirmation from the source. Our Agri department should know the amounts produced.

 

[kcghost]

Macanudo is making cigars all the same.

 

[proteus]

So it seems the reason I could not locate the fields where I thought they were is that I did not recognize that the amazon warehouse complete in 2023 took its place. I saw them building things but I didn't connect it. It looks completely different now that I'm seeing right. I thought I misjudged the land but it was sold off to build that monster.

Oh well. No more CT shade grown in CT.

 

[proteus]

Found an article.
Wow I was wondering about that building. I'm just shocked. I really have to pay more attention to these things I guess

Amazon’s enormous new Windsor facility: 66 football fields, 17 miles of conveyors

Since it opened in October, Amazon’s 3.8-million-square-foot distribution center near Bradley International Airport has built its payroll to 2,000 and expects to hire another 1,500, company e…

www.courant.com

 

[Peter Turbo]

Dunn and Foster still grows in Ellington, wanted to get a job there awhile back but the commute is a little out of my range since I'm in Fairfield County. I know at one point they used to grow shade, not sure if they switched to broadleaf or something else. Beautiful over there.

 

[Zack Miller]

I lived in the Farmington Valley in the mid seventies. The tobacco farms were an integral part of the countryside back then from an esthetic standpoint. Sad that they are gone.

 

[TheVision]

A bit late to the conversation, but acreage allotted to tobacco has been declining in Connecticut since the 1950s. What has survived to this point has recently been sold off, being more valuable for commercial uses (as mentioned above), condominiums and parking lots (although some has been preserved by the state for agricultural use): Shade in the Dusk | Cigar Aficionado - https://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/shade-in-the-dusk

If that wasn't bad enough, the Canadian wildfires and torrential rains have impacted the 2023 crop: Rain And Smoke Make For Challenging Year In Connecticut | Cigar Aficionado - https://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/rain-and-smoke-make-for-challenging-year-in-connecticut

 

[mso489]

Living in the Tobacco Belt, North Carolina, I always thought it was an interesting fact that Connecticut was a solid tobacco producer, especially the cigar wrapper leaf, as I read about it.

So now it turns out I can cross that off my list of amazing facts. It still is surprising that Connecticut was ever an important tobacco growing state. I'm sorry hear that is not so true today. I'm interested to hear about the change.

 

[TonyManx]

Living in the Tobacco Belt, North Carolina, I always thought it was an interesting fact that Connecticut was a solid tobacco producer, especially the cigar wrapper leaf, as I read about it.

So now it turns out I can cross that off my list of amazing facts. It still is surprising that Connecticut was ever an important tobacco growing state. I'm sorry hear that is not so true today. I'm interested to hear about the change.

I've been a CT resident my whole life. The amount of land under ANY kind of agriculture has been in decline for years. The price of land is sky high. And labor to work the tobacco fields has to be brought in from other countries. BTW, "Connecticut" Valley tobacco is also grown in Massachusetts, but in the same Connecticut River Valley.