Philip Morris Program Seeks Young Farmers

Source from:  Richmond Times-Dispatch 09/29/2009

Adrip-irrigation line coursing through a field of tobacco on Steve Hudson's Halifax County farm represents an investment in efficiency. It also represents a link to cigarette maker Philip Morris USA, which is reaching out to young farmers such as Hudson, 31, to try to keep them in the tobacco-growing business. The Henrico County-based cigarette company provided Hudson with a $5,000 grant to cover part of the costs for the drip-irrigation system, designed to water the crop more efficiently than an older, overhead irrigation system. "It is basically a scholarship for an innovative idea that would help at some stage of tobacco production to eliminate some of the costs," Hudson said. He expects the drip-irrigation system on 30 acres of his tobacco to reduce labor costs and improve the speed at which the tobacco matures. The average age of tobacco farmers in the United States is 57, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture figures. With many farmers retiring or nearing retirement, Philip Morris, a major buyer of U.S. tobacco leaf, has been seeking to protect its future supply by providing young farmers with grants, training and leadership programs. The "Taking Root" program, as the company calls it, started this year with eight farmers in several states, with plans to expand the program. All the growers received grants for various farm improvements. "This is the next generation," said Jodie Clarke, manager of leaf procurement programs for the company. "The goal is to invest in growers like [Hudson] that are committed to growing tobacco." Hudson grew up on the family farm and now raises 115 acres of flue-cured tobacco and 10 acres of burley tobacco. With his brother Johnathan and father, Hilton, they raise corn, cantaloupes and tomatoes, too. "I enjoy it," Steve Hudson said, though he expressed some of the same concerns that other farmers have about the future of tobacco farming. "It has got to be profitable," he said. "The way the taxes have been going up on the price of cigarettes, the domestic market is shrinking every year. "I could go elsewhere and work if I really wanted to, and I may have to eventually. But for now I am going to stay here." Enditem