Black shank is a leading cause of damage to both burley and dark tobaccos in Kentucky.
And, it is becoming worse because of spread to new farms, changing production practices and varieties, and especially due to decline in crop rotation. Actually, many of the current farming practices are highly conducive to spread of black shank. Furthermore, losses would have been devastating had controls not been available and been in place on most farm, because black shank is now present in most tobacco producing communities of the commonwealth. The objective of this publication is to give a concise overview of the black shank disease and its control. However, those truly interested in understanding the disease should obtain much more information than is provided here about the biology and control of the black shank disease, which is available in other articles in this series.