Georgia Tobacco Growers Cut by Half

Source from:  The Associated Press ALBANY, Ga. 02/17/2005

Buyout from government will compensate failing growers for next 10 years. About half of Georgia's 1,000 growers of cigarette tobacco will probably accept a government buyout and call it quits this year, a university expert said yesterday. It could be the biggest one-year exodus from the industry the state has ever seen. Many growers of flue-cured tobacco are finding it too hard to make a profit and have decided to seize the buyout, said J. Michael Moore, a University of Georgia tobacco specialist. Flue-cured tobacco is the main type of leaf used in cigarettes and has been one of the South's major cash crops for generations. "Based on the conversations I've had with growers, I feel this is a reasonable estimate of the number of growers who won't produce," Moore said. Experts said other states that grow flue-cured tobacco are not seeing anywhere near as big a pullout as Georgia, which vies with Virginia and South Carolina for second place in production behind North Carolina. Moore said frequent outbreaks since 1989 of a plant disease called tomato spotted wilt virus are a major factor in the Georgia departures. The outbreaks have reduced quality and yields and forced growers to spend more on chemicals. Many Georgia farmers are auctioning off curing barns and other tobacco equipment. Some who are getting out plan to use their share of the buyout to pay off debts and shift to other crops, such as peanuts and cotton. Brothers Randall and Howard Morris crunched the numbers for their farm near Uvalda, in southeastern Georgia, where their family had grown tobacco since the 1950s, and decided to get out. They sold their tobacco equipment Friday. "In the short term, you could survive," said Randall Morris, 45. "We don't think long-term that there was enough profit to keep your equipment maintained." Congress approved the $10.1 billion buyout last fall to compensate growers for giving up their 1930s-era price supports and their investments in tobacco. The buyout, paid for by tobacco companies, guarantees recipients an annual income for 10 years. Lionel Edwards, general manager of a Raleigh, N.C., cooperative that administered the government tobacco price-support program before the buyout, said a few growers are leaving in Virginia, but most plan to continue. In North Carolina, half of that state's growers may leave eventually, "but we're not at that point this year," said David Smith, a North Carolina State University tobacco specialist. Georgia's crop has dropped from 89.2 million pounds worth $158.4 million in 1997 to 46 million pounds worth $85.1 million last year. Moore expects a 2005 crop of about 35 million pounds. Enditem