The Tobacco Board has agreed to increase the minimum guarantee price by Rs 4 a kg to farmers of F1 Grade from the current Rs 120. This was decided after board Chairman G Kamalavardhana Rao held meetings with representatives of farmers and traders. Farmers of southern light soils in Prakasam district, who have cultivated flue-cured virginia, have been insisting on remunerative price. However, traders were offering only Rs 112.98 a kg as against R ... Jump to full article >>

COURTLAND — Life after tobacco was on the minds of many a constituent out to see Progressive Conservative MPP Toby Barrett (Haldimand-Norfolk) at his New Year’s levee. “Our area down here has really been kicked in the teeth,” Barrett said. “Our farm economy has taken a beating over the past three or four years.” Barrett said the illegal sale of tobacco supplied by smugglers has brought Norfolk tobacco farmers ... Jump to full article >>

Cigarette maker Philip Morris International says it’s signed deals to buy 10 percent of its tobacco from farmers in Brazil. The world’s largest nongovernmental cigarette seller says it the deal with two leaf suppliers to source tobacco leaf from about 17,000 growers there. As part of the deal, it says it will offer jobs to more than 200 people, most of them agronomy specialists. The agreements with subsidiaries of Alliance One Intern ... Jump to full article >>

It could be a big blow to one of Kentucky’s largest industries. Many tobacco farmers across the area have been receiving letters saying their product would no longer be needed, due to the changing demographics of smokers. Farmers who have been growing tobacco for Phillip Morris U.S.A. and P.M. International are among those who have received letters. One Lexington tobacco farmer says losing his contract came as a major shock. “Normall ... Jump to full article >>

Hartsville native and President of Gold Leaf Seed Co. Marion Hawkins gave the Hartsville Kiwanis a lesson in the history of the tobacco industry and his company at the group’s weekly meeting on Thursday at the Hartsville Country Club. During colonial days, Hawkins said, tobacco was one of the nation’s biggest exports. In the mid 1800s, tobacco was booming when Duke Co. in Durham began making cigarettes. Since early 1900s it’s grown in lowe ... Jump to full article >>

A pending ban on smoking in bars and restaurants has met mixed local reaction, with smokers feeling discrimination while non-smokers say they are being protected from secondhand smoke. Beginning Jan. 2, 2010, smoking will be prohibited in bars and restaurants that are open to the public. Though nearly 80 percent of Watauga County restaurants had already voluntarily enforced such a restriction, now business owners face penalties if they let custo ... Jump to full article >>