Tobacco Farmers

John A. Barnes
CIS110
October 2014

Chicago is a place knows for being a concrete jungle. Its a city where large fields
and grasslands are scarce. This is what I am use to and have grown up with my whole
life. I am very unfamiliar with the works of farming and even unfamiliar with the works
of tobacco farming. I was fortunate enough to learn a lot about such an interesting
culture. In this cultural paper, I will discuss the process of what tobacco farming is and
what type of people work on it. Ill explain how these people are effected and why their
lifestyle is different than the average person. Ill also talk about how the industry in
negatively portrayed and how the industry is on a steady decline.

Tobacco farming has been an industry that has lasted since the 17th century and is
still around today, enough though the future doesnt look to be so bright. Modern
technology has changed the way it is taken care of and worked on but the same similar
products are being produced by it today. The process is very labor intensive and takes a
large amount of workers to treat the fields (Simmons Interview). In the first stage of the
growing process, tobacco seeds are placed in specially constructed seedbeds. At the same
time, farmers carefully prepare the soil in their fields. After two months in the beds, the
seeds have grown into plants approximately 15-20 centimeters high (depending on the
success of it) and are ready to be transplanted to the field. The plants grow in the field for
a further two to three months. Throughout the growing process, the plants are cultivated
to maximize yield and quality, the soil is tended regularly, and care is taken to protect the
plants from pests and disease. This takes a large amount of workers who are educated
through the family learning process. What I mean by that is, that most of the farmers

dont go to a higher education than their local high school. The learning of the fields is
just passed on by family members. These kids are grown into the farm and the tobacco
industry. Harvesting is the next stage of the process. Harvesting is either done leaf by leaf
in the case of Virginia and oriental tobaccos, or by the whole plant, in the case of
burley.(Morris 1). Harvesting has to take place when the leaves are mature (or ripe) and
in prime condition for the next stage, the curing process. Curing plays a major role in
contributing to the final leaf quality. Different ways of curing are used for different types
of tobacco: air-curing for burley, flue-curing for Virginia, and sun-curing for oriental.
Once the leaves are cured, the farmers sorts them according to their quality and stalk
position. The leaves are then packed into bales ready to be shipped. Tobacco bales are
moved to a buying station where they are assessed and subsequently purchased by leaf
buyers. The tobacco is then processed, usually by a large company, which for the burley
and Virginia tobaccos includes separation of the lamina from the stem. The tobacco is
dried to the ideal moisture content, packed into cases, and shipped to manufacturing
centers around the world. These manufacturing companies are what most tobacco user
refer to when they talk about their tobacco. When I talked to a tobacco user, he didnt
have much of this knowledge about his chewing tobacco. But what he did know, was the
brand name of which he was using. Little did he know, they had a very small part in the
process of how that tobacco went from a seed to the consumption form. Which leads me
into my next bit of information, on the type of people that work on these farms.
As I stated earlier, most of these tobacco farms are family oriented organizations.
Some of these farmers do this as their main source of income, but most do it more of a
hobby. While interviewing both of the tobacco farmers I met from Kentucky, they both

agreed that it is not a steady source of income. While I interviewed Simmons, who works
on a farm, and has grown up on it his whole life, he enlightened me of the family
business. His family had owned the land they have been farming on for over 200 years.
As the generations pass, they keep handing it down to the next most fit for all the land.
The Duke name is often associated with the tobacco business. (Both of my interviewees
knew of the name) After serving in the Civil War, Washington Duke returned to his
North Carolina farm, now the Duke Homestead in Durham, and began growing tobacco.
His firm of W. Duke, Sons, and Company became a major producer of tobacco goods.
The company was passed down 3 times which accumulated over 100 years of use. (Duke
University). Unfortunately according to research, the family orientated farming is on a
steady decline, as well with the tobacco industry as a whole. Since 1995, 59% of tobacco
sales have been cut. (Brandt) My family now doesnt grow tobacco for a job anymore.
We do sell it, but it doesnt not make an income for us (Simmons Interview). He
continued to talk about how with the modern change in interest of tobacco, that they have
had to switch to other crops to make up for the loss of income that tobacco was
providing. He and I discussed how his grandparents only sold tobacco as their main job
and nothing else. There are multiple reasons for this. Mainly being the negative look on
what these tobacco products do to our bodies.
As most of us know, the biggest issue on tobacco is the health ramifications.
According to the National Institute on Drug use, cigarette smoking is most commonly
tied in with the use of tobacco. Smoking hurts your lungs natural cleaning and repair
system and traps cancer-causing chemicals build in your lungs. Smoking destroys the tiny
hairs, which line the upper airways and protect against infection. Normally, there is a

very thin layer of mucous and thousands of these hairs lining the insides of your
breathing tubes. The mucous traps the little bits of dirt and pollution you breath oxygen
in, and the hairs move together like a wave to push the dirt-filled mucous out of your
lungs. Then you have to waste your time coughing, swallow, or spit up the mucous, and
the dirt is out of your lungs. When your lungs' natural cleaning and repair system is hurt,
germs, dirt and chemicals from cigarette smoke stay inside your lungs and never come
out. This puts you at risk for a cough that never goes away, chest infections, lung cancer,
and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Many deaths are related to the use of tobacco,
mainly because of the loss to cancer. Tobacco use accounts for at least 29% of all cancer
deaths, is a major cause of heart disease, and is associated with conditions ranging from
colds and gastric ulcers to chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and cerebrovascular disease.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, They estimate that about 3,000
nonsmoking adults die of lung cancer each year as a result of breathing the smoke of
others cigarettes. Not to mention the 360,000 tobacco-related deaths per year (Columbia
1). As we all can tell the facts are there to prove how dangerous tobacco really is. This is
backed by the media portraying it negatively. Since the recent 2000s tobacco
commercial agencies havent been allowed to air commercials on television. The also
arent allowed to have a human-like image using a tobacco product. This all ties back to
how the farmers are affected. Many have had to move on to other occupations. Others
have had to accept the fact that they will never get the tobacco industry back. Many, such
as the people I interviewed, have transitioned into the crops farming even though the
money is not as generous. In Kentucky, home of half the country's tobacco growers,
farmers are already looking at the future warily. A few good years notwithstanding,

tobacco demand has been drifting downward for nearly two decades. American tobacco
farmers have much to lose. No other crop in the south-east is nearly as profitable.
According to the 1992 census of agriculture, tobacco generates 40% of the net returns on
Kentucky farms, though it takes up only 1% of the farmland. Paul Hornback, a thirdgeneration tobacco farmer in Shelbyville, Kentucky, says that he nets about $1,200-1,500
per acre of tobacco, compared with a paltry $75 per acre on his corn and soy beans. Rod
Kuegel, president of the Burley Tobacco Growers Co-operative Association, rattles off a
list of alternative crops that he has tried and quit: broccoli, cabbage, sweet corn, straw,
alfalfa, now of which he plans to resort back too. All according to economist.com. As we
see these tobacco farmers life and jobs decrease, they see no help from the government.
In fact the government is the biggest of all reasons the tobacco industry is dying.
I personally tried to find a count for the amount of anti-tobacco organizations and
laws but the number could not be found. Every book, aticle and website had another law
suit that went in the way of the non tobacco related party. There are currently over 50
bills pending in the House of Representatives and the Senate concerning tobacco in some
way, the vast majority of which are for further restrictions being placed on the tobacco
industry. This tremendous activity helps to explain why the executive branch of the U.S.
government has also thrown its considerable resources against the tobacco industry by
filing suit in the federal courts against the industry giants. The U.S. government, through
the Department of Justice, filed a civil lawsuit against the major tobacco manufacturers
for recovery of healthcare costs associated with the use of tobacco products. The
government is attempting to recover billions of dollars the federal government spends
yearly on smoking-related healthcare costs. This can hurt multiple areas through out the

US, not just big tobacco areas like Kentucky. Three counties in North Carolina are not
even located within the heart of tobacco country. However, they generate over $287.4
million in excise and sales taxes for the state and federal government each year. Each
acre of tobacco results in $21,616 in federal excise taxes per year. (Coltrain 1).
I am not one saying that the use of tobacco is good in any means, I personally
dont do it and look down on people who rely on it. But after talking to these farmers
whos families have been passing on their work force and traditions from generation to
generation it really made me look different upon the situation. Tobacco farmers are
looked down upon in our society. The media, the government and just about everyone
thinks the use of tobacco is wrong. The problem with that is, is that the tobacco farmers
are not to blame. They dont contribute to the harmful materials that these big companies
are putting into their products. These farmers are following all the new rules that were put
on them due to the ramifications of the people who buy their crop and turn it into
something dangerous. I was lucky enough to learn and talk to actual tobacco farmers
while I had the chance. Unfortunately it is a very dying industry due to the negative
opinions of the United States and unfortunately I dont see a turn around for the future.

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