To begin with, tobacco has different grades/class according to plant position (where the tobacco leaf is coming from on the plant stalk), colour of the leaf and curing faults. Tobacco is first classified before sell and it's bought according to grade. Each grade has its own price. Tobacco with mixed grades is often rejected and returned to the grower for proper grading.
Grading tobacco is the act of separating the tobacco according to plant position, colour, size and curing faults. Tobacco with similar attributes is brought together and baled.
How to grade.
Firstly, separate the tobacco according to leaf position. There are five leaf positions on the tobacco plant.
1. Primmings & lugs. First four bottom leaves. Tan to pale in colour, thin, fluffy, short leaves and often times contain lots of sand. Sand should be shaken off.
2. Cutters. Leaves 5-10 in mid stalk. Tan in colour, broad, thin to medium bodied and a little bit longer leaves.
3. leaf. Leaves 11-20 in upper stalk. Tan to reddish in colour. Long, medium to heavy bodied leaf.
4. Tips. Leaves 21-24 at the top of the stalk. Dark in colour, short narrow and medium to heavy bodied leaf.
If the farmer was harvesting the leaves properly,stringing and sticking according to leaf position, grading the leaf when it's dried shouldn't be a problem. Hence first steps of grading starts during harvesting. Harvesting should be done in steps according to plant position.
Secondly, separate tobacco leaf according to colour. There are three common colours. Leaf colour is related to leaf position.
1. Buff. Mostly bottom leaf
2. Tan. Mostly middle leaf
3. Deep tan(reddish). Top leaf.
All these colours are for naturally air dried burley tobacco. For Flue cured tobacco, the leaf changes from green to yellow or orange or mahogany according to leaf position.
Leaf colour does not vary much within same leaf position hence separating colour isn't a hard task if leafs from same leaf position are separated properly. However if tobacco is coming from different fields, there might be some reasonable variance due to difference in field conditions, hence it's important to grade tobacco from different fields separately.
Thirdly, further separate the tobacco according to curing faults. Common curing faults include waterstain, green spots and mould. Tobacco that does not have any curing faults is considered as high quality and fetches high price.
Finally, bale tobacco with similar attributes. For example, waterstained cutters or clean cutters should be baled in one bale. Combining grades, for example cutters and leafs in same bale is not allowed. Tobacco with different sizes but same grade should also be baled separately.
Answers
To begin with, tobacco has different grades/class according to plant position (where the tobacco leaf is coming from on the plant stalk), colour of the leaf and curing faults. Tobacco is first classified before sell and it's bought according to grade. Each grade has its own price. Tobacco with mixed grades is often rejected and returned to the grower for proper grading.
Grading tobacco is the act of separating the tobacco according to plant position, colour, size and curing faults. Tobacco with similar attributes is brought together and baled.
How to grade.
Firstly, separate the tobacco according to leaf position. There are five leaf positions on the tobacco plant.
1. Primmings & lugs. First four bottom leaves. Tan to pale in colour, thin, fluffy, short leaves and often times contain lots of sand. Sand should be shaken off.
2. Cutters. Leaves 5-10 in mid stalk. Tan in colour, broad, thin to medium bodied and a little bit longer leaves.
3. leaf. Leaves 11-20 in upper stalk. Tan to reddish in colour. Long, medium to heavy bodied leaf.
4. Tips. Leaves 21-24 at the top of the stalk. Dark in colour, short narrow and medium to heavy bodied leaf.
If the farmer was harvesting the leaves properly,stringing and sticking according to leaf position, grading the leaf when it's dried shouldn't be a problem. Hence first steps of grading starts during harvesting. Harvesting should be done in steps according to plant position.
Secondly, separate tobacco leaf according to colour. There are three common colours. Leaf colour is related to leaf position.
1. Buff. Mostly bottom leaf
2. Tan. Mostly middle leaf
3. Deep tan(reddish). Top leaf.
All these colours are for naturally air dried burley tobacco. For Flue cured tobacco, the leaf changes from green to yellow or orange or mahogany according to leaf position.
Leaf colour does not vary much within same leaf position hence separating colour isn't a hard task if leafs from same leaf position are separated properly. However if tobacco is coming from different fields, there might be some reasonable variance due to difference in field conditions, hence it's important to grade tobacco from different fields separately.
Thirdly, further separate the tobacco according to curing faults. Common curing faults include waterstain, green spots and mould. Tobacco that does not have any curing faults is considered as high quality and fetches high price.
Finally, bale tobacco with similar attributes. For example, waterstained cutters or clean cutters should be baled in one bale. Combining grades, for example cutters and leafs in same bale is not allowed. Tobacco with different sizes but same grade should also be baled separately.
Summary
Leaf position > colour > defects >size