Not now, he said. Farmers say cattle pays the routine bills, but it takes a tobacco check at year's end to pay the farm mortgage. Tobacco is a critical part of his income, White said. It also adds extra income for people who work off the farm. He could get by without tobacco money, but the extra income helps.
Tobacco brings that same income boost to rural areas across the state.
That's certainly true in Sharpsburg, where the poker players have wandered out into the cool of an early evening as farmers pull the day's last wagonload of burley out of the fields. He knows his fortunes are tied to those of the farmers. The farmers are what's keeping this place around here going. Beyond a field of uncut tobacco in Bath County, the Custom Food Products factory sits. Factory jobs are gradually claiming tobacco's traditional place as the driving force of the county economy.