Tobacco Farmers File Complaint With Police

Source from:  The Simcoe Reformer 03/10/2011

Dozens of tobacco farmers converged at the Norfolk OPP detachment yesterday, formally filing a complaint about the lack of yment from a Tillsonburg tobacco buyer. About 45 True Blend growers met with Norfolk OPP Staff Sgt. Rick Tout in the lobby of the detachment at 10 a.m. Tout answered several questions before he invited them to continue meeting with him in a private room. He assured farmers that their complaints would be noted and investigated. "The ball is rolling," he told farmers in the lobby. Farmers want to see a criminal investigation launched, confirmed two Burford growers who spoke on condition of anonymity after the meeting. Payments to farmers have once again dried up, they say. While True Blend started paying out again at the end of February, only six growers received payment, farmers say. The Tillsonburg buyer still owes its contracted growers about $6 million. This doesn't include the remainder of the crop still sitting in barns. These remaining tobacco bales may also impede farmers' ability to farm tobacco next year. Tobacco buyers are uninterested in signing growers with crop remaining, farmers say. "Even if we are paid out, it would still wreck this (coming) year," one of the Burford growers added. Calls were placed to Victor Osztrovics and Brian Poreba, co-owners of True Blend. A representative of True Blend confirmed they were at a business meeting "down south" until Thursday. In an interview two weeks ago, Osztrovics said part of the company's troubles stem from difficulty setting up its processing equipment. "We really only just got going (before Christmas) and that was one of the main contributing factors to getting cash flow in check," he said. Cheap Third World tobacco has also been a factor. This differed drastically from the company's first year of operation, he explained. "In 2008, 2009, there was a shortage of tobacco, good quality tobacco," he said. True Blend was also attempting to arrange for other tobacco buyers to purchase its remaining share of crop, Osztrovics said. Jerry Montour, who is involved in tobacco manufacturing, showed his support to the impacted growers yesterday. "I'm extremely concerned about the well-being of the regional farmer," he said outside of the police station. "Never in the history of tobacco have we seen a situation like this before." Police cannot speculate what kind of charges -- if any -- will be laid, said Const. Kari Lee, of Norfolk OPP. "It's a very beginning early stage of an investigation," she said. Enditem