Quotas dictate how much tobacco a farmer can grow and are commodities in themselves. A quota owner can sell his quota to another farmer or lease his quota to a grower for a fee. Sara Dryden, public relations manager with the Burley Tobacco Grower's Cooperative, said the organization supports all of the commission's recommendations. Rod Kuegel, a Daviess County farmer and the cooperative's executive director, also served as a member of the commission. Patrick Jennings, director of governmental relations with Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation, said the organization has reservations about the proposed quota buyout.
Quota is a property.
I don't think we should mandate that someone surrender property. Kuegel said tobacco growers he has spoken to are in favor of the plan. They payments would be made over a five-year period. The amount to growers who give up producing tobacco would also be paid out over five years. Jimmy Hill, a member of the commission and director of the Flue-Cured Tobacco Cooperative Stabilization Cooperation, estimated that 66 percent of all tobacco farmers would discontinue growing.