Consider this

[Jogeephus]

If you think you are not getting your fair share of the cattle prices, consider that the producer gets roughly $1.50/dried pound for his bacca. Cigarette companies can make roughly 12-14 cartons out of each dried pound and there ain't no telling how many tins of cope they can make. Government makes $54/lb on every pound sold in taxes yet does not offer any subsidies for this crop.

Man o man there is some kinda of money being paid to farmers.

 

[warpaint]

Made myself a promise as a youngster, "if I ever got old enough to make up my own mind, there was two things in this world I'd never do again, one was eat oatmeal, the other was work tobacco." ;-)

 

[Tegerian]

Topping tobacco and staking tomatoes were the two jobs I hated most growing up.

 

[warpaint]

Topping tobacco and staking tomatoes were the two jobs I hated most growing up.

Say what you will about the tobacco farmers in this world. Are they right to raise a product that has potential dangers?

That's beyond me, as I smoke and chew.

What I do know is, that they are some of the hardest working individuals I have ever met.

Topping wasn't my worst enemy. But, I learned at an early age, that I was leaning toward the lazy side. From setting, to selling, there is a whole bunch of steps in between. Fortunately, as a young man, I was pretty tall, and had a pretty good reach, so when it came time to hang, I always got the top tier.

God help the poor souls in the middle tiers. Not only did they have to reach down and up, but hang where they were too.

Like I said, I swore off it a long time ago. ;-)

Cattle are much easier. :lol:

 

[Jogeephus]

Say what you will about the tobacco farmers in this world. Are they right to raise a product that has potential dangers?

That's beyond me, as I smoke and chew. :lol:

Not going to cast judgement on this issue and don't want to open a can of worms since I'm kinda partial to Bull in the Woods myself.

But as you are well aware, the press depicted tobacco users as being guilty of draining the health care system and should be stripped of certain rights and priveleges. I am however perplexed by this since our nation's tobacco crop was 1 Billion pounds last year. This generated $54 billion in tax revenue for the government.

Just something else to consider.

 

[ctlbaron]

I agree with you Paint. I swore I'd never put out a tobacco crop of my own. It's always hot as blazes when topping and spiking and cold as ice when stripping and packing. Miserable way to make money.

 

[Lammie]

Isn't it hard on the soil?

I quit smoking, but I don't have an issue with those that still do. Envy, sometimes, but no issues... Farmers gotta farm what they gotta farm.

 

[Bullbuyer]

I'd rather work tobacco than build fence. Fencing on the hillside just ain't no fun!

 

[john250]

In many ways, tobacco is "nationalized", e.g. owned by the government of the US in partnership with the states.
It is supremely ironic that most anti-tobacco advocates are funded (and funded is the magic word) by taxes on tobacco. If they succeed in eliminating tobacco usage, they don't get paid. And they increasingly rely of prohibition, because they haven't made much progress with voluntary cessation. They are better at bringing young people and activists to City Council meetings to pressure for anti smoking ordinances. The restaurant owner or tavern keeper who wants to make his/her own business decision about smoking is just an evil capitalist to them. I view them with a very wary eye.
Tobacco $ got me through school and started in farming. Hardest work anyone will ever do. I quit 2 yr ago because I'm at a point where I don't want to make the investment to get bigger at this point in life and because there is no labor available.
It is an interesting and challenging crop to grow. Gets into your blood. It was the opportunity crop for generations of young men and women who were willing to work for land and a certain independence. But I'm getting sentimental.

 

[Victoria]

Say what you will about the tobacco farmers in this world. Are they right to raise a product that has potential dangers?

That's beyond me, as I smoke and chew. :lol:

Not going to cast judgement on this issue and don't want to open a can of worms since I'm kinda partial to Bull in the Woods myself.

But as you are well aware, the press depicted tobacco users as being guilty of draining the health care system and should be stripped of certain rights and priveleges. I am however perplexed by this since our nation's tobacco crop was 1 Billion pounds last year. This generated $54 billion in tax revenue for the government.

Just something else to consider.

I quit smoking but it ticks me off to see the government knocking smokers but getting a lot of money. If smoking is that harmful make it illegal, oh, but of course they won't because they make a ton of money off of it. Don't know what cigarettes are there but people are paying $10.00 or more for a pack here. I quit when they went past $6.00. That was too much tax for me. We have people here saying smokers should be kicked out of our health plans. Great idea, let's kick out speeders, overweight people, those who don't exercise, those who like dangerous sports and the list goes on. Give me a break. :roll:
Best thing smokers could do is all quit together on the same day. Then see how fast marijuana would be legalized so the government could collect the taxes.

 

[Jogeephus]

I made this post mostly to illustrate the irony of a situation. No politcal agenda. Just using tobacco as the example. It is an extreme one but a good one. I am pleased ya'll see the irony as well. I think there are many other examples out there that illustrate how people who produce things benefit the least. Thanks for seeing the issue and past the nonpolitically correct crop.