Tobacco Lends Farmers Higher Profits

Source from:  courierpress.com By LEN WELLS Sep 23, 2007 09/24/2007

Take a Sunday drive through the northern part of White County or the southern part of Wayne County, and you'll likely see plenty of corn and soybeans being harvested, but also a surprisingly large crop of tobacco. When the federal government stopped subsidizing tobacco three years ago, a lot of farmers in Kentucky and other parts of the South simply stopped growing the crop, opening the door for area farmers searching for an alternative crop with a higher profit margin than corn or beans. "At the end of the 2005 contract period, the local tobacco receiving station had less than half the pound contract as they had the year before," said rural Carmi tobacco grower Martin R. Barbre. "Production fell right off the edge. A lot of the folks had been growing it for more than 50 years and just simply stopped." Barbre farms about 4,200 acres in Southern Illinois, growing primarily row crops of corn, wheat and soybeans. In 2001, Barbre tried growing genetically altered low-nicotine tobacco for Vector Tobacco, Inc., of North Carolina. The crop never really caught on, but he continued growing tobacco after government subsidies fell by the wayside and many growers got out of the business. Unlike corn and soybeans, tobacco is a very labor-intensive crop. Satisfying all the governmental agencies when it comes to using workers from Mexico and Honduras is a challenge as well, Barbre said. "Like anything with the government, it's very complicated," Barbre said. "You have to deal with three agencies - Homeland Security, Immigration and the Department of Labor. It's just very complicated." When the tobacco harvest is in full swing, Barbre employs about 40 laborers he puts up in rented rooms and an old military barracks - a facility he helped remodel - located just outside of Carmi. The tobacco season gets under way in early to mid-March when he starts seeding greenhouses. Around May 10, he starts setting the plants in the field. It's a planting window that can last as long as a month and a half. About 60 days after planting, workers have to top each plant, breaking the flower off so the plant will direct its energy into producing tobacco leaves. Then, 30 days after that, the plants are cut and hung on curing structures where they remain for up to six weeks or longer, depending upon the weather. Crops are then brought inside, the leaves are stripped then transported to the nearest tobacco buying station, which is in Glasgow, Ky. Barbre, who recently served as president of the Illinois Corn Growers Association, isn't shy about talking about his experiences with tobacco growing. "We're willing to talk to anybody," Barbre said. "They just need to understand it is a capital and labor-intensive crop. The best thing to do if you're interested in growing tobacco is to come see for yourself what's going on - we're not hiding anything." Enditem