Fewer kids in school, if the cut is deep enough to force people to move for work. Tobacco's economic importance has declined statewide over the last 20 years, but it's still a key slice of the economy in Bath County, one of the nation's most tobacco-dependent counties. Farmers here raised five million pounds of tobacco last year. It means you sink or swim' Clearly, in a county where unemployment consistently tops the statewide rate and 29 percent of the people live below the poverty line, tobacco has a big effect. Trisha McVey, who's helping raise 30 acres, said burley sometimes makes the difference in whether she can pay electric bills.
Businesses see the effects, too.
Mitchell Miller runs a furniture and appliance store in Owingsville that's been in his family for 50 years. He also grows tobacco. Customers often finance big purchases, paying off the bank notes when the crop sells in the late fall, he said. Don Karrick said sales at his Owingsville used-car lot pick up when tobacco sells. A big drop in tobacco production would hurt the whole economy, he said.