Jump to full article: Milwaukee (WI) Journal-Sentinel, 2009-09-12
Author: Meg Jones of the Journal Sentinel
Intro: Deerfield - Shafts of sunlight filtered through the roof and sides of a century-old barn as workers hung wooden slats holding large fragrant leaves.
The leaves were bright green, the color of money, which in a sense is just what they are.
Wisconsin's tobacco harvest is under way.
Though tobacco is a tiny portion of the state's multibillion-dollar agriculture industry, the plants that will eventually end up in pouches of Red Man flourished under the cool, dry skies in south-central Wisconsin this summer.
"This is the best tobacco crop I've ever seen," said Dennis Lund, whose family has grown tobacco since the '80s.
That's the 1880s. . . .
While this year's harvest was excellent, some farmers worry about the effects of recent steep increases in state and federal tobacco taxes. Wisconsin's cigarette tax increased 75 cents last week to $2.52 per pack, making it the fifth highest in the country, while the federal tax jumped 62 cents, to $1.01 a pack, in April.
None of Wisconsin's tobacco is used for cigarettes. It's all made into chewing tobacco, which also saw an increase in state taxes to 100% of the manufacturer's wholesale price.
Fischer said it's too early to tell how farmers here will be affected by tobacco tax increases.
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