Tobacco.org

• The tobacco crop that nobody wants  

The problem is nobody wants them, not even Verkindt. It took a lot of thinking, and convincing from his wife, but the third generation tobacco grower recently decided not to transfer the crop to his fields. For the first time in 75 years, no tobacco will be grown on the family farm. "It took a day or two for it to sink in - you can’t make it, the numbers don’t crunch," said Verkindt. As the planting season in the Ontario sand plain starts this week, the uncertainty tobacco growers have faced every spring for the last 10 years has changed to a grim reality. With this year’s crop size predicted to be less than one-seventh of what it was a decade ago, and with little sign of a government buyout on the horizon, farmers such as Verkindt have finally hit the wall. "I’m on the verge of losing it," Verkindt said of his farm. The story across the tobacco belt is the same, said Celia Stone, a "transitional consultant" who sat down with the Verkindts this spring and helped them come to terms with their situation. "I’ve had a lot of farmers who were going to grow now say they can’t make the numbers work," said Stone, who is advising tobacco growers through a government-funded program.

The situation turned, she said, after federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz announced in March there would be no government buyout for growers. Now, she said, farmers are facing a situation in which they can’t afford to put in another crop and without government aid are in danger of not being able to make mortgage and debt payments. "For the first time, people are starting to think ‘I can’t stay on the farm.’ Even if they find themselves another job, it’s not going to cover their debt loads," she said.

Jump to full article »