Growing tobacco is not for those with an aversion to work.

“There is a lot more sweat in producing tobacco than most any other crop,” said J. Michael Moore, a University of Georgia professor and cooperative extension agronomist who specializes in tobacco.

Despite the labor-intensiveness of the crop, farmers planted more tobacco this year than they have in each of the past four years.

Georgia farmers planted an estimated 13,000 to 15,000 acres of tobacco this year, Moore said. That’s about the same as 2009 when they planted 14,840 acres. But interest in growing the crop waned last year with a scant 9,611 acres, according to the Georgia Tobacco Outlook and Budgets report, which Moore co-authored.

The most common tobacco grown in Georgia is flue-cured tobacco, used in making cigarettes.

Daniel Johnson of Alma has been growing tobacco for 30 years, and he admits it’s not for everyone.