Is it true that some tobacco farmers wish to continue growing?
The wish to continue to grow is a dream of the past when tobacco farmers could make a good living for working hard. The stark reality of today is very different. The drive for just-in-time delivery of the cheapest inputs possible no longer supports that wish. Increased foreign competition and contraband, plummeting crop sizes and escalating debt loads compound the situation for farmers. On the flip side, tobacco is very profitable for government taxation coffers and manufacturers. By agreeing to stop tobacco farming, farmers are not just giving up their right (i.e. quota) to grow tobacco, but are also losing their livelihoods. Theyre also giving up equipment, land and knowledge. If a viable industry remained, naturally some would prefer to continue on in their chosen profession, working the land that has seen tobacco grown by sometimes up to five generations of their families. But thats not reality in the present Canadian environment.
