Better Farming - November 2016

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20 FarmNews First > Better Farming November 2016
FIELDTRIP
Specialty crop production
in the sandy soils
For the Arvas, tobacco production is part of a family tradition.
This crop remains a central component of the family’s
diverse operation.
by KYLE RODRIGUEZ
Tobacco growing has a
long-standing history in Ontario.
According to the Canadian
Encyclopedia, native peoples in south-
western Ontario grew tobacco and used
it for trade.
In the early 1800s, producers
started cultivating the crop commer-
cially in Canada. By about the 1920s,
producers made the switch to the
flue-cured tobacco – which is the
type of tobacco still grown today.
In 1939, Hungarian immigrant
Joseph Arva bought a parcel of land
in Mount Pleasant, Brant County, and
began farming tobacco. His son,
Emil, took over the business and
expanded it. By the early 1980s Emil’s
sons, Paul and Joe, were working
alongside him learning the trade.
Emil passed away eight years ago,
but his sons carry on the tradition of
growing quality tobacco leaves for
Canadian consumption. Today, the
Arvas farm a total of 800 acres,
including approximately 200 acres of
tobacco and 42 acres of ginseng,
along with rye and soybeans.
The operation also has a chicken
barn.
While tobacco farming technolo-
gies have come a long way since the
family first started cultivating the
crop, old fashioned values like
teamwork and hard work are still
crucial at harvest time. BF
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Spencer, who only gave his first name, drives a De Cloet
tobacco harvester for the fourth and final pass, removing
the final leaves from the field in mid-September. The
first-pass harvest usually begins at the end of July or
start of August and involves removing the lowest leaves.
Subsequent stages of harvest move progressively
higher up the plant. This approach allows the fourth-
stage leaves to fully mature and acquire the strongest
nicotine content. Where picking was once done by hand
and loaded into a horse-drawn sled, this harvester has
modular attachments to automate the pulling of leaves
from specific levels without damaging the plant.
A stray tobacco flower stands tall above the surrounding
plants in the mid-September sunshine after escaping the
“topping” stage. Seedlings start out in greenhouse trays in
mid-March, and are planted around May 24 after the last
frost. When the flowering stage begins in July, workers walk
amongst the rows and cut the flowering heads by hand. This
“topping” stage encourages the plant to divert its energy
away from reproduction. Instead, the plant directs its
energy towards creating larger, more uniform leaves, and
has increased root growth. Ultimately, the “topped” tobacco
has a higher sugar content in cured leaves.
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