Southern growers wondering where to go with tobacco
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — Many Missouri farmers have left their tobacco curing in barns because they don’t know where they can sell it after Philip Morris stopped buying from them last year.
Smoking bans, campaigns to cut tobacco use and increased cigarette taxes have lowered demand for tobacco, said Louis Smither, co-owner of the New Deal Tobacco Warehouse.
“Those are the causes, and this is the effect — the small tobacco farmer suffers,” Smither said. Some farmers are seeking new buyers out of state, where they can expect to get about $1 a pound minus transportation expenses.
Smither said it represents a sizable loss, even for farmers who don’t rely heavily on tobacco.
“Even if tobacco only makes up 10 percent of what you grow, you still have to replenish those costs associated with that,” he said.
Hal Swaney, president of Burley Tobacco of Missouri Inc. and a tobacco farmer, said most tobacco is curing in barns and farmers aren’t rushing to prepare it for market.
“It just figures we’d have a really good tobacco year across the country in a climate with decreasing demand,” he said. “It’s just not painting a rosy picture for tobacco growers.”
Much of the tobacco grown in south central Wisconsin is grown for wrapper.
Oct 14, 2009 at 9:19 a.m.
Suggest removal
SarahB1-It does require a lot of hands-on work, but not a lot of expensive equipment. The overhead is able to be kept under control. My family has raised it for generations, but none of them smoke. It's one of those things where everybody pitches in to get the job done. The harvesting (which is the difficult part) is completed in a few days w/ help from the whole family. It ends up being like a part time job.
Oct 14, 2009 at 9:05 a.m.
Suggest removal
oh Mark twain {thompson the farmer" when he was running WISCONSIN dictated the crops and cut cut cut and he was what party?????????????
Oct 14, 2009 at 9:02 a.m.
Suggest removal
janesvillian We raised tobacco in our family for years and it paid our taxes and clothed 7 kids and put the added food on our table. Then the Government in wis decided to control the acreage we could grow until they had it down to nothing and it is time for the people to stand up and fight back why should the hard working farmers have to be the blunt of the governments dictatorship, And if you have ever worked in tobacco there is no harder farm work then harvesting tobacco. Some people run there mouths and don't have a clue how hard these taxes are hitting the little man (farmers, small businesses ETC:) If you want to name the control the government has name it monopolizing for politcal gain as the taxes and cuts sure aren't helping the little guy. Gas taxes hit the auto industry and utility bills are outrageous and it is not going to get any better until the people start standing up against the people we elected to do the right thing and look they only take take take and we as the voters are letting them.
Oct 14, 2009 at 8:39 a.m.
Suggest removal
Janesvillian-Wouldn't it be fair to also say that those individual class action suits brought against tobacco companies "have only themselves to blame?" Nobody forced them to smoke.
Oct 14, 2009 at 8:38 a.m.
Suggest removal
good call metromilton. unfortunately the blind dont know there is a difference between industrial hemp and the marijuana smoked to get high. instead we allow canada to grow our industrial hemp, for lots of uses, and then import it. have a kid try to smoke a joint of industrial hemp. i promise it will be the last one he smokes.
Oct 14, 2009 at 8:37 a.m.
Suggest removal
Farmers get $1 a pound, and the government gets almost $30 a pound. Isn't this the stuff that gets people starting revolutions against their government?
Oct 14, 2009 at 5:56 a.m.
Suggest removal
What happened to freedom of choice? Oh yeah, Doyle and our other elected officials get to decide what is best for me.
Oct 13, 2009 at 11:16 p.m.
Suggest removal
The poor crack dealers are going out of business, better legalize crack.
Oct 13, 2009 at 9:53 p.m.
Suggest removal
They will just have to grow another crop instead......maybe industrial hemp????
Oct 13, 2009 at 9:49 p.m.
Suggest removal
You know, sometimes crops become unpopular or less profitable all by themselves, too. What do those farmers do? Oh, right. They plant a different crop.
.
mark_twain, you claim it was "Democrats" who did this, somehow, without being clear how, but the tobacco settlement was an agreement between four for-profit corporations and forty-six state attorneys general. The reason for the settlement was that individual class action lawsuits against the companies and state deceptive marketing and fraud actions against them were expected to bankrupt them completely.
.
The industry lied its way into people's lungs, and tried to lie its way out of the lawsuits, too. They really have only themselves to blame.
Oct 13, 2009 at 9:41 p.m.
Suggest removal
I spose all you are for the beer/alcohol tax increases?! That posion kills people too, not to mention increases health care costs with all the health problems that come with being a drunk, not to mention the non-drinkers that you run your car into.
Oct 13, 2009 at 9:34 p.m.
Suggest removal
GOOD THING: coorporate profits, increased heathcare cost, early death from additive drug... BAD THING: reduce use of said poision. does sound like that republican health plan called "Hurry Up And Die!"
Oct 13, 2009 at 8:40 p.m.
Suggest removal
Well, lets see, can't stuff that people can EAT grow in that same dirt???
Before you post a comment, consider this:
Note: GazetteXtra.com does not condone or review every comment. Read more in our User Policy AgreementPost Comment
Commenting requires registration.