2,701 from County to Gain from Leaf Buyout

Source from:  By Scott Witten Staff writer 06/29/2004

Ten would receive more than $1 million Ten Robeson County individuals and companies would receive more than $1 million apiece from the proposed $9.6 billion tobacco buyout if the legislation, recently passed by the U.S. House, survives intact. An analysis by Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit watchdog group, shows that North Carolina will receive $3.8 billion, the biggest chunk of the buyout money. Of the 91,169 North Carolina recipients expected to receive the buyout payments over the next five years, 2,701 live in Robeson County. Topping the money list from Robeson County is K.M. Biggs Inc. of Lumberton. The company would receive $2.6 million, ranking 22nd out of all of North Carolina's recipients. "Well, we're not counting on that money anytime soon," said Bo Biggs of K.M. Biggs. "I, like the farmers, hope the legislation passes, but it is in the hands of the U.S. Senate and senators from non-tobacco states who will have to be convinced. So right now it is still pie in the sky." Also ranking in the top 100 North Carolina recipients are Roger Dean Oxendine of Rowland, ranked 27th with $2.6 million; Gary Powers Farms of Lumberton, ranked 36th with $2 million; and Robert W. Lewis of Fairmont, ranked 89th with $1.5 million. The list of potential tobacco millionaires also includes Zeb Oxendine of Rowland with $1.3 million; R. Hoke Smith Limited Partnership of Fairmont with $1.2 million; Nick Evans Farms of Fairmont with $1.1 million; David Stephenson of Lumberton with $1.1 million; and Charles Jackson Jr. of Fairmont with $1.08 million. Some individuals and businesses will receive payments through multiple recipients. For example, Gary Powers Farms of Lumberton would receive an estimated $2 million and Gary N. Powers, listed separately in USDA tobacco quota records, would collect an estimated $1 million. Fair share Not everyone is happy with the number of millionaires created by the buyout. The Environmental Working Group said 10 percent of the largest recipients - some 44,000 tobacco quota holders and growers - will collect 67 percent of the buyout funds, sharing more than $6.4 billion, for an average of $144,414 apiece over five years. The vast majority of tobacco farmers and quota holders - the 354,000 recipients in the bottom 80 percent of the buyout plan - will receive just more than $1,000 per year over five years. "The House buyout plan is an incredible rip-off of the taxpayer, mostly to benefit a handful of large tobacco interests and tobacco companies," said Ken Cook, president of EWG. "If there is to be a buyout, it should be paid for by tobacco companies, not taxpayers, and to protect public health, it should be accompanied by new authority for tough regulation of tobacco by the Food and Drug Administration." But Georgia Love, an agent with the Robeson County Agriculture Extension Service, said payouts are fair because they are based on quota - the amount of leaf the holder is permitted to sell in a year. "It all depends on how much you grow, so naturally there would have to be a difference," Love said. "That should be expected." Love added that most farmers in the county, even some of the potential millionaires, are taking a wait-and-see approach to the buyout. "Most are cautiously optimistic," she said. "There have been too many times when we thought it was going to happen, then it didn't." Enditem