Canda: Tobacco Growers See End of Era, Start of New

Source from:  Sun Media 02/23/2009

More than 50 years ago, it was heralded as the saviour of the tobacco growing industry: a system in which the crop is sold to cigarette companies in an auction with a minimum price guarantee negotiated ahead of time. Quota, as it is known, was credited with ending corruption in the industry (buyers offered wildly varying prices from farm to farm and were said to take bribes) as well as ushering in an era of unbridled prosperity across Ontario's sand plain. Growers hung on to their quota and their tobacco board, which has negotiated prices and crop sizes for them since 1957, even as their industry imploded over the past decade. If there was any hope the system would survive and the good times would return, it was dashed forever Wednesday night in Delhi. There, in the auction exchange, where the crop is sold every fall and winter, the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers' Marketing Board laid out a federal government buyout plan to farmers. They can accept $1.05 for every pound of quota from Ottawa but in return must give up ever growing tobacco again. A new licensing system, meanwhile, will be brought in and those who don't take a package can apply and continue to grow. But there will be no quota, no negotiating as a group to get a price guarantee. Farmers who stay on will have to bargain one-on-one with the companies again, as they did five decades ago. "It was a historic moment," said board chair Linda Vandendriessche, who signed the agreement for the new system in Ottawa on Friday. "It's pretty tough to give up a way of life." The meeting, which she described as "sombre," attracted 2,000 people. Farmers, she said, face "a big decision." The federal funds, she explained, are welcome but they're not enough to pay for a "transition" to another crop or career. "It's something that will assist but won't alleviate the problem," warned Vandendriessche, noting some growers still have "significant debt." The board, she said, will continue to press the province to top up the federal program, as it did during an earlier round of buyouts in 2004. The board, in effect a union for the farmers, will continue to exist, for now. It will administer the buyout program and start talks with the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission to see if there is any role for it in the new era of tobacco growing. Farmers must decide which way to go quickly. The deadline for applying is March 23. Some of them, said Vandendriessche, met with cigarette company reps this winter to feel out what kind of prices they might be able to get. The deal marks the end of a chapter of decline for growers, one that was filled with uncertainty and angry placard-carrying protests. Their crop has been steadily eaten away by cheaper imports. Once 150 million pounds, the crop sank to 22 million this year and was headed ever lower still. At one time, tobacco was a protected industry. Cigarettes sold in Canada were made of leaf grown on Canadian soil only. As global trade expanded, however, cigarette companies gradually used more and more imports. Some industry officials estimate the equivalent of 80 million pounds of tobacco is smoked in Canada every year, yet Ontario growers are down to providing one-quarter of that. Globalization and a growing black market for cigarettes, rather than smoking abatement measures, have hurt them most. With Wednesday's meeting, all the doubts surrounding this industry -- which at one time poured millions into the communities of rural Ontario where the crop was grown -- have ended. "It's a real bittersweet time," said Vandendriessche. "We needed the money. Our farmers are in dire straits … Some people can move forward with their lives." Enditem