Tobacco Crop Sales Deal Called 'Dreadful'

Source from:  simcoereformer.ca  10/09/2008

Tobacco farmers have reached a "dreadful" deal to sell their 2008 crop to cigarette manufacturers, says the chair of their board. Companies will buy 23.15 million pounds of leaf at a price of $1.934 per pound. The price is 35 cents less per pound than last year while crop size has dropped by 27.7 per cent. A decade ago, they sold 150 million pounds a year. "Although the terms of this deal are dreadful, we have a responsibility to provide a legal avenue for the sale of the 2008 crop," said Linda Vandendriessche, chair of the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers Marketing Board. "Therefore, under duress, the board has ratified the 2008-09 Industry Program." Enditem