Tobacco Farmers Ponder Contracts

Source from:  Sat, January 5, 2008 By DANIEL PEARCE, SUN MEDIA 01/07/2008

A few years ago, Ontario tobacco farmers met in their Tillsonburg warehouse to discuss a proposal that would revolutionize their industry. They were asked to abandon the safety of collective bargaining provided by their marketing board -- it gave them set prices and crop sizes -- and instead sell their crops directly to cigarette makers. It was soundly, and angrily, shot down. It was clear it was an option they'd never accept. But today, their industry ravaged by cheaper imports, growers are asking through their board for "contract buying" to be brought in. Anger and absolute refusal to give up the quota system have been replaced by reality as farmers ponder a future in a global market where the cheapest-priced product wins. Since that noisy meeting in Tillsonburg, the amount of tobacco grown in Ontario has shrunk by more than three-quarters. "If we don't change, we will be done," said Doug Morrison of Windham Centre, who at one time planted 270 acres a year. "Business has been going so downhill. This could turn it around." The Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers' Marketing Board is in talks with the federal and provincial governments and cigarette companies about changing to a contract system. Details of what that will look like are under wraps as negotiations continue. Morrison, a third-generation tobacco farmer, said he believes what will emerge is a combination of a quota and a contract system, with some type of organization representing growers still intact. Enditem