Tobacco.org

Auction's demise another sign of tobacco's decline 

Eighty-seven harvest seasons later, Varner is done.

And as of Tuesday, so is the system that allowed small farmers to sell the oily, fragrant leaves to the highest bidder, as demand for Virginia's most prominent agricultural product burns down like a slow cigarette ash.

"I enjoyed it. It's done good for me," said Varner, 83, who sold off the last of his crop and is converting his remaining tobacco acres into cattle pasture.

"But it's just a break-even. We're not going to miss it."

Organizers billed the event as the last tobacco auction ever in Farmville, and likely one of the last nationwide.

They say fading consumption, foreign competition, the move toward contract-only growing and the elimination of federal price supports have made such sales obsolete.

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