Florida Sun Grown’s Tobacco Crop Destroyed by Hail

A brutal hail storm has claimed the current crop of Florida Sun Grown tobacco being grown by Jeff Borysiewicz in Clermont, Fla.

“Total loss at the FSG Tobacco farm,” Borysiewicz wrote in a Facebook post. “The tobacco was looking incredible. We were going to top the plants this week and start harvesting next week. In a matter of minutes, an entire season can get wiped out by a hail storm.”

Borysiewicz shared photos of the farm both before and after the hail storm, which came through the area earlier this week and was forecast to bring up to baseball-sized hail.

“If growing prized cigar tobacco was easy, everyone would be doing it,” Borysiewicz added on social media.

Florida Sun Grown tobacco is used in a number of cigars, including the FSG by Drew Estate line and 20 Acre Farm, which is also produced by Drew Estate. J.C. Newman uses a Florida Sun Grown wrapper its The American line, while FSG fillers have been used in cigars produced by Davidoff, Cordoba and Morales, and house brands sold by Borysiewicz’s Corona Cigar Co.

In comments on the post, Borysiewicz indicated that hail insurance is not available for premium cigar tobacco crops, which compounds the impact of the storm. He added that he is looking ahead to planting the next crop in September. In the meantime, he told halfwheel that he expects that the plants will begin sprouting flowers and suckers in the coming weeks to get seeds produced for the next generation of crops. Those flowers also attract the bees that produce Florida Sun Grown Tobacco Honey.

Borysiewicz added that this will undoubtedly produce challenges in supplying the tobacco for the cigars that use Florida Sun Grown tobacco, though said it was still a bit too early to tell just what that might mean in foreseeable future.

Images via Jeff Borysiewicz.