A gene from Nicotiana plumbaginifolia ( Ph_p) has been incorporated into a large number of flue-cured tobacco cultivars since 1996, and an increasing number of Burley and dark fire-cured tobacco cultivars. This gene provides resistance against races 0 and 3 of the black shank pathogen ( Phytophthora nicotianae ) and also suppresses reproduction of a tobacco cyst nematode ( Globodera tabacum solanacearum - Gts ), often to levels where nematicide use becomes unnecessary. Laboratory (RAPD) analyses have been conducted to identify tobacco entries possessing Ph_p since 2005. Annual field evaluations of Gts reproduction on flue-cured tobacco germplasm have also characterized suppression of Gts reproduction linked with Ph_p . However, widespread planting of cultivars possessing Ph_p has been linked with a dramatic shift in the P. nicotianae population in US tobacco fields from predominantly race 0 to mostly race 1. Due to the lower levels of race 1 resistance in available flue-cured tobacco cultivars, this race shift has increased crop loss and significantly increased soil fungicide use. Since 2007, annually-collected percent survival data generated by the US Regional Flue-Cured Tobacco Variety Evaluation Committee has been subdivided into separate categories for race 0 or 1 of the black shank pathogen. The "resistance level" of each cultivar to each race of P. nicotianae is then described by average cultivar survival in fields within each category over multiple years and locations. These "resistance levels" are also used to weight the average relative yield of each entry from annual variety tests to estimate relative yield when black shank is either present (a "Black Shank Yield Index") or absent. "Resistance level" and "Black Shank Yield Index" results from these annual analyses are being extended to Virginia tobacco producers to assist them in optimizing tobacco yield and quality, as well as their use of crop protection agents for nematode and black shank control.