Tobacco Money, Options on the Table

Source from:  By IAN DEMSKY Staff Writer 05/09/2005

Odey Parks doesn't expect to see more than a few hundred dollars a year from a government program aimed at helping tobacco farmers make the transition into a new era. With the impending end of government price supports, some farmers will be switching to other crops. Others will seek new lines of work entirely. ''I don't believe I'm going to mess with it anymore,'' said Parks, a ''hobby'' farmer from Lincoln County. Parks was one of about 30 people who attended a meeting in Nashville yesterday to find out more about money farmers are eligible for under a tobacco quota buyout program. The session was part of a six-state push by the National Black Farmers Association to help ensure black farmers take advantage of the program before the mid-June deadline. ''The biggest thing is getting the word out,'' said John Boyd Jr., president of the Black Farmers Association, which has its headquarters in Baskerville, Va. ''There's a lot of people who don't know they're eligible, and we want to make sure that we don't leave that money on the table.'' A new federal law will do away with the Depression-era quota system, compensating growers and other owners of tobacco quotas for their diminishing production allotments. The money is to be paid by cigarette makers over 10 years. Growers will stop receiving price supports and could sell the leaf at market rates. They can also get out of the business or grow something else. Over the next decade, Tennessee's farmers are to be paid more that $765 million of the $10 billion buyout as the industry is thrust into the free market. Black farmers must be wary of solicitations from predatory lenders who are already offering to trade the farmers' 10-year contracts for a lump-sum payout and a hefty percentage, Boyd said. A presentation by Louis Buck of the government's Farm Service Agency explained some of the complicated algebra growers and quota holders can use to figure out how much they are owed. ''This would be a good year to spend some money on lawyers and accountants,'' Buck said. He urged farmers to check their own records against those in the government's computers. ''It's a very important issue,'' said Moniqueka Gold, a fourth-generation tobacco farmer from Clarksville. Tobacco put her and her siblings through college, but she is unsure what will happen after the buyout. ''We're going to continue to grow burley, but we're going to diversify,'' she said. The family is looking at growing fruits and vegetables as well as getting into organic farming. ''Tobacco farming was a lifestyle and a major source of income,'' she said. Already Tennessee's tobacco auction houses are quickly becoming just a memory. More and more farmers are contracting directly with cigarette companies. A representative from Phillip Morris also attended yesterday's meeting to discuss contracts with farmers. Enditem