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• Government issues first regulations guiding tobacco quota buy-outs 

The Agriculture Department on Thursday said growers can begin registering for the $10 billion tobacco quota buyout next month, and published the first of two regulations dictating how the program will work...

The new regulation spells out quarterly deadlines, beginning Feb. 25, for tobacco companies to tell the government the amount of each type of tobacco they manufactured or imported. That information will be used to determine each company's assessment.

Rep. Ben Chandler, a Kentucky Democrat who sits on the House Agriculture Committee, said he was pleased at the Agriculture Department's pace in managing the program, largely because it will help farmers receive checks more quickly.

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