After the tobacco program expires, farmers anywhere would be free to grow and sell tobacco probably at lower prices. Many farmers, particularly in the flue-cured fields of North Carolina where acreage is larger and more competitive, support the buyouts and end to the program. In Kentucky, where 60,000 farmers grow burley tobacco on farms averaging four acres, the program supports a side income that pays mortgages and college educations. The senior Kentucky senator, Democrat Wendell Ford, has denounced the Lugar-McConnell plan as a financial death sentence for many farmers and vowed to fight for his buyout plan, which contains similar payments but keeps both the price supports and quota system. Many health advocates also support the program because it limits the tobacco produced each year.
Republican conservatives contend the buyouts are far too generous.
He said many lease their quotas with farmers and split the income. Even after either the Ford and Lugar measure survives Senate scrutiny, the overall tobacco bill still faces a House test, then negotiations for a compromise that could take all summer. Copyright 1999 Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.