Tobacco availability for the future...

That’s a nice thought if you could just empty tobacco clippings into jars to smoke. But fighting the elements, tobacco pests, years of aging, processing, stoving, flue curing, steaming, pressing into cakes, twisting ropes, and a bunch of processes that we take for granted.

You then have a full time job, and doubtful that the end result would match what we now enjoy.

We grew it on our farm growing up. I remeber watering and setting the plants behind the tractor. Its no different growing really than corn or tomatoes. Then cutting flowers off so leaves get bigger.

Cut and hang where it can get air but not wet. Space can be an issue. 6 months later shuck the stems and press in a wooden press. Does not come out like a "cake" but not loose.

Acres and acres would be a full time job but a few rows for personal use I think is completely doable. Now quality..... I doubt a regular joe is going to win any trophies for it.

Sounds like you love them TOO much ... it's all about the neglect.  

Tobacco likes to wilt in the heat of the day and it's tempting to over-water them.
As long as they perk back up in the evening / early morning, they're good to go.

Larry, you actually struck on what I was thinking after my earlier post.
I didn't meant to say that it wouldn't be impossible, it is just that in the day and age we live in, it is easier to work a little extra at what a person professionally does and just pay for the finished product.

If a person lived around enough like minded people that were committed, a CO-OP would make sense with each person doing their part. If one could organize such a group, I have no doubt that everything from starting the seedlings, to screwing the lids on the jars of the finished product, could conceivably produce a better product than commercially available.

I can put together meals in my own time that are exquisite, but with the time and effort would be hard to market to the public...it would just be too expensive. Producing all the varietals for tobacco blending and the processes required would take a Herculean effort, but if spread among like minded individuals, it just might be doable.

"If" is a big word though, but as the saying goes, "many hands make the work load light".

When sale and production cease, will confiscation follow? Financial rewards for turning in that cob smoking Grandpa down the street? These actions and their like border on another assault being waged on Constitutional Freedoms.
I sure do miss the world and common sense reality, I grew up in.

Kind of took things to the extreme there, no? If anything the taxation on tobacco is too sweet to pass up. I'd guess long term the industry will look to develop either be some 'healthier' synthetic tobacco or like with chew there'll be an herbal alternative. Maybe it'll be like with vaping that a little tobacco leaf goes a long way and in the long run tobacco will just be a topping to a smokable herbal pipe product?

I just bought stock in this. Seems like a good investment.

If there is any truth to the rumors going around about McClelland the last couple of months there more to the story than a shortage of tobacco.

The market spoke loud and clear in the tobacco fields around me years ago. When the tobacco subsidies dried up the farmers planted subsidized corn and beans. The Amish might plant an acre here and there but that it.

An interesting article about a Wisconsin tobacco farmer, video at bottom of the page.



www.gazettextra.com/news/local/watch-labor-intensive-tobacco-farming-must-be-in-your-blood/article_4e68b768-eb35-5aaf-b67e-b26aba34edd3.html

Here's a study on oriental leaf farmers in Turkey. agrojournal.org/14/05-05-08.pdf

The important facts are: 1) The average farmer has 5 years of schooling but 30 years growing tobacco.
                                    2) Average production is 62 kgs/dekar (1000 m2) and they profit about US 50 cents per kilo.
                                    3) Labor costs make 65% of total cost of farming tobacco (95% of farms use family labor).
                                    4) Macedonia (USD 2.41/kg), which has lower costs of production than Turkey (USD 4.71/kg), still sees 65% of total                                          cost made up of labor costs.
                                    5) Tobacco farmers need to plant at least 21 dekars to earn a livable wage in Turkey.  

Conclusions: 1) Tobacco farming is suffering at the level of production in Turkey way before the government gets involved at the level of                      processing and distribution.   
                  2) Even with high production, a famous brand, and high skill Turkish tobacco farmers earn very little for their crops.
                  3) Given their low earnings, high average age, increasing education in the country, and lengthy process in becoming a skilled                     tobacco farmer the coming generation of farm owners are less likely to plant tobacco.
                

trailboss, this sounds like a piece of news that you'd comment on: www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/cdc-director-resigns-after-report-about-tobacco-stock-trading/ar-BBIwka0?li=BBnb7Kz

Happy/surprised she resigned? Is it a worse sign that she did resign for this?

Per Justin's dictum with which I agree, we should just leave this alone and forget about it here. 

Gotta keep poking the bear, huh? 

No, just repeating Justin's message about cooling the political nonsense. This isn't the place for those kinds of discussions Charlie.