I remember the disappointment of waking up Christmas morning many times, only to find out tobacco was in order (some places call it in case). Christmas morning would be put on hold to go take down tobacco.
FlyingLSimmentals said:It was school during the day, homework to do as soon as I got home and tobacco stripping at night afterwards. Lots of time homework got forgotten or bypassed, lol. Christmas Day we did usually take off but Dec. 26 my birthday seemed to be spent every year in the outside garage or barn stripping tobacco all day. All the other kids thought I had it made every year having my birthday while we were out of school for Christmas break.
Did you tie it in hands and pack it on a basket or bale it? Baling took a lot of the work away also.Bigfoot said:FlyingLSimmentals said:It was school during the day, homework to do as soon as I got home and tobacco stripping at night afterwards. Lots of time homework got forgotten or bypassed, lol. Christmas Day we did usually take off but Dec. 26 my birthday seemed to be spent every year in the outside garage or barn stripping tobacco all day. All the other kids thought I had it made every year having my birthday while we were out of school for Christmas break.
We stripped our crop at night as well. The goal was 300 pounds per person.
kenny thomas said:Did you tie it in hands and pack it on a basket or bale it? Baling took a lot of the work away also.Bigfoot said:FlyingLSimmentals said:It was school during the day, homework to do as soon as I got home and tobacco stripping at night afterwards. Lots of time homework got forgotten or bypassed, lol. Christmas Day we did usually take off but Dec. 26 my birthday seemed to be spent every year in the outside garage or barn stripping tobacco all day. All the other kids thought I had it made every year having my birthday while we were out of school for Christmas break.
We stripped our crop at night as well. The goal was 300 pounds per person.
You grew flue cured, we grew Burley. Lots of difference in the process. Took months for the Burley to cure where you cured it in 7 days.JMJ Farms said:Funny how things differ depending on location. Unless I'm misunderstanding, we never stripped it. We placed the leaves in racks in the barns, cooked for usually 7 days, unloaded the barn and dumped the leaves onto big burlap sheets, then tied the sheets like trash bags, loaded onto a 6 wheeler truck, and hauled to the buyer. Buyer graded the tobacco and paid the farmer according to the grade. Harvesters and balers didn't make it here until right about the time the buyout came along.
I can't imagine the cost per acre back in the 60's and 70's. We sharecropped so all we supplied was the labor. All family members working or swapped work with neighbors.littletom said:Now we schedule at the receiving station in and hour or so thankfully. Company i sell about all of it too only take big bales so goes pretty fast. When I was a kid my parents let skip school to watch mine at auction times sure changed. And it didn't cost 3200 a acre to grow.
Yes you got close to the same price as now. But it is better with out quota. Yes we must provide housing state comes to inspect 45 days prior to workers arriving. They tell you how many people can live there and what changes to make. I have one farm house for 8 guys and a house trailer for 4 guys. We also have to provide transportation and workers comp. And boat load of paper work goes with it.kenny thomas said:I can't imagine the cost per acre back in the 60's and 70's. We sharecropped so all we supplied was the labor. All family members working or swapped work with neighbors.littletom said:Now we schedule at the receiving station in and hour or so thankfully. Company i sell about all of it too only take big bales so goes pretty fast. When I was a kid my parents let skip school to watch mine at auction times sure changed. And it didn't cost 3200 a acre to grow.