Tobacco growers know it's time to butt out, and they are turning to the government for help.
Ontario producers, including those in Strathroy-Caradoc, are urging both the federal and provincial governments to implement an exit plan to help them save their livelihoods.
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According to Tom McElhone, chair of the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers' Marketing Board, tobacco farmers are facing "disastrous situation".
"It is time to proactively address the needs of tobacco growers and our communities," said Mr. McElhone. "There is a desperate need for the implementation of a plan that would give our farmers the opportunity to exit the industry."
David Vegso, who has an operation on Walkers Drive, has already started to diversify out of tobacco.
The farm, started by his grandfather in the late 1930s, is now producing about 15 acres of sweet corn.
"We had to try something different in order to stay in business," said Mr. Vegso. "Every year we seem to be growing less and less tobacco."
Four years ago, the Vegso operation was growing 50 acres of tobacco. By last year, that had dropped to 18 acres.
"Because we are growing less each year, any money we make is eaten up in equity," said Mr. Vegso. "But I love to farm so that is why I'm still here."
At their most prosperous, the Vegsos were selling about 45 percent of their quota. Now they are down to 12 percent.
Mr. Vegso estimates that he and his brother, Robert, have about $2 million invested in their tobacco operation.
The exit package proposal, which was started two years ago, would see two cents of every package of cigarettes go directly to the producers.
"If this exit package isn't implemented, bankruptcy is a real possibility for some producers," said Mr. Vegso. "Particularly among the young farmers who are just starting out."
In an effort to put pressure on both governments, board members met with the Regional Transition Working Group for Rural Economic Development on Friday, Nov. 9. This group is comprised of mayors and wardens from tobacco-producing areas.
Strathroy-Caradoc Mayor Mel Veale attended the meeting and is adamant that something needs to be done now.
"The bottom line is that the federal and provincial governments must get together on this before it's too late," he said. "If they wait until farmers go bankrupt, it will be too late. Buy them out now, so they can get on with their lives."
Educating the public about their plight is also important to Mr. Vegso.
"People need to understand we aren't living the high life," he said. "Basically our jobs are being eliminated and all we are asking for is a severance package."
Mr. Vegso blames the high tax rate on cigarettes as part of the problem facing producers.
"Only 13 cents per pack of cigarettes actually goes to the farmer. About 80 percent of the cost goes to taxes."
High cigarette taxes has lead to the illegal sale of cigarettes, which makes the situation worse.
"It is hard to compete when cigarettes are being sold so cheaply," said Mr. Vegso.
There are an estimated 1,550 tobacco quota holders in Ontario, and only one processor left.
"So much tobacco is now coming in from other countries," said Mr. Vegso. "I bet that one processor won't be around much longer."
Mayor Veale said the government wants it both ways, pushing for a reduction in tobacco use for the sake of public health while still taking tax money from it.
Meanwhile, he said, the sharp reduction in the tobacco industry locally has likely taken money out of municipal tax coffers.
At one time, there were as many as 400 tobacco growers in Caradoc, he said. By the year 2000, that number had dropped to 49, and today, the number is between 15 and 18. By the end of the year, he said, 80-85 percent of all tobacco farmers will be gone.
"Are our local taxes higher today because of the loss of this production?" he wondered.
Tobacco-growing helped the local economy a great deal over the years, he said, taking otherwise marginal farmland and making it highly productive.
Today, he said, most former tobacco growers are either growing cash crops themselves or renting their land for cash crop production. Enditem
