http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/org/farmers.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD/MGArticle/RTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1137834131370&path=!business&s=1045855934855 http://tobacco.org/news/217577.html A contractor for the U.S. Farm Service Agency inadvertently released the Social Security numbers and tax-identification numbers of all 350,000 participants in the federal tobacco buyout. About 42,000 Virginians are participating in the buyout. "The agency sincerely regrets that this occurred," said Teresa Lasseter, the FSA administrator. "And we are working aggressively to protect this data and see that it doesn't happen again." In response to requests made under the Freedom of Information Act, the agency said a contractor with FSA's Kansas City office inadvertently released the personal information on Jan. 19 to eight groups that included banks and the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit group that opposes farm subsidies. FSA officials said they discovered the error Feb. 9. Lasseter said that all eight groups agreed not to make disclosures of the information. Richmond Times-Dispatch Thu, 16 Feb 2006 05:00:00 GMT http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/05/03/69230567.shtml?Element_ID=69230567 http://tobacco.org/news/196588.html What: This meeting is to ensure that Tennessee's black farmers have access to the information they need to participate in the federal tobacco transition program, also known has the tobacco buyout. Who: National Black Farmers Association. The Tennessean plantaginea@aol.com Sat, 07 May 2005 04:00:00 GMT http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050421.wtobac0421/BNStory/National/?query=smoking http://tobacco.org/news/195514.html Ontario's proposed smoking ban will put the province's tobacco farmers out of business and foster the spread of cheaper, foreign tobacco, a public hearing into the legislation heard Thursday. "There's never been before a more pressing or health-related need . . . for government to actually help farmers protect the Canadian marketplace from foreign threat," said Luc Martial, a consultant with the Tobacco Farmers In Crisis, a non-profit organization that represents Canadian tobacco farmers. The proposed Smoke-Free Ontario Act doesn't guarantee that Ontario farmers will supply the existing market for cigarettes, and encourages cigarette manufacturers to turn to less-controlled foreign tobacco, which Mr. Martial said already dominates the more than 16 billion cigarettes sold in the province each year. Canadian Press Fri, 22 Apr 2005 04:00:00 GMT http://www.timesnews.net/article.dna?_StoryID=3468731 http://tobacco.org/news/189807.html Two area congressmen and the Tennessee Farm Bureau will be presenting an informational session Feb. 22 for East Tennessee tobacco farmers to discuss current issues, including the quota buyout and the legal tie-up concerning Phase II payments. U.S. Rep. Bill Jenkins, R-Tenn., said Tuesday that the meeting, scheduled to take place at Walters State Community College in Morristown beginning at 10 a.m., will help area tobacco farmers get a better handle on these two important issues. "What we've heard from constituents is that they are fairly pleased with the tobacco buyout as a whole,'' said Jenkins in an interview from his Washington, D.C., office. Kingsport Times-News Thu, 17 Feb 2005 05:00:00 GMT http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?contentidonly=true&contentid=2005/02/0049.xml http://tobacco.org/news/189267.html Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today announced that sign-up for the Tobacco Transition Payment Program (TTPP) will begin March 14, 2005 and extend through June 17, 2005. "We are pleased to be able to announce the beginning of the sign-up period for this historic program," Johanns said. "The Tobacco Transition Payment Program will end the decades old tobacco marketing quotas and provide transition payments over a 10-year period. All tobacco quota holders and producers are urged to visit their local USDA Service Center and sign up for these benefits." US Department of Agriculture Thu, 10 Feb 2005 05:00:00 GMT http://www.suwanneedemocrat.com/content/1/4315/Tobacco+farmers+urged+to+attend+today%27s+meeting.htm http://tobacco.org/news/189262.html The Flue-Cured Tobacco Cooperative Stabilization Corporation (FCTCSC) will hold its 47th Annual district meeting for District 1 tobacco farmers in Live Oak today, Feb. 9, beginning at 2 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Suwannee County Agricultural Center at 1302 Eleventh Street SW. District 1 includes all flue-cured tobacco producing counties in Florida. Kenneth Dasher, District 1 Director said the stabilizationâ?(TM)s future plans after the tobacco quota buyout will be the key topic at the annual district meeting this year. "Ample time will be provided for comments and discussion," Dasher said. Suwanee Democrat susan.lamb@gaflnews.com Fri, 11 Feb 2005 05:00:00 GMT http://www.ucadvocate.com/articles/stories/public/200502/09/3UUp_editoria.html http://tobacco.org/news/189260.html Passage of the tobacco buyout by Congress last year was a historic achievement for Kentucky which will benefit all aspects of tobacco dependent communities in Kentucky and across the tobacco belt. The raw numbers are impressive-- $2.5 billion over 10 years to be paid in every region of our state, the creation of at least 7,000 new jobs and a chance for Kentucky farm families to invest in their own future, either through more streamlined tobacco production or a variety of alternative enterprises. In terms of the value of the economic stimulus for Kentucky, the buyout ranks with the top economic development initiatives of our time. New automotive plants or new technology enterprises have served as strong advancements for individual regions of the commonwealth, but the buyout spreads its high-value impact to virtually every county, west to east. Union Co. Advocate Wed, 09 Feb 2005 05:00:00 GMT http://www.timesnews.net/article.dna?_StoryID=3467050 http://tobacco.org/news/189258.html Tobacco farmers and quota holders will be able to sign up for funding this spring due them under the tobacco buyout legislation passed last October. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said Thursday that qualified individuals can sign up for the Tobacco Transition Payment Program beginning March 14 . "We are pleased to be able to announce the beginning of the sign-up period for this historic program," Johanns said. "The Tobacco Transition Payment Program will end the decades-old tobacco marketing quotas and provide transition payments over a 10-year period. All tobacco quota holders and producers are urged to visit their local USDA Service Center and sign up for these benefits," Johanns added. Kingsport Times-News Fri, 11 Feb 2005 05:00:00 GMT http://www.bristolnews.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=TRI%2FMGArticle%2FTRI_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031780696935&path=/news/localnews&s= http://tobacco.org/news/189255.html Some tobacco farmers who attended an annual burley conference on Monday left with their biggest question unanswered. When will they start receiving money from the recently-approved tobacco buyout plan? "We were hoping they had more information on the buyout that what we had heard before," said Brenda Tate, who grows more than an acre of tobacco in Washington County... .S. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-9th, hosted the 22nd Annual Ninth District Burley Tobacco Growers' Conference at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center to provide details about the buyout and how farmers can participate. Bristol Herald-Courier webmaster@wjhl.com (SAMANTHA SIEBER) Tue, 08 Feb 2005 05:00:00 GMT http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/local/10868694.htm http://tobacco.org/news/189253.html 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. AP Fri, 11 Feb 2005 05:00:00 GMT http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/editorial/10872480.htm http://tobacco.org/news/189251.html Our leaders in Washington have failed the tobacco farmers of Kentucky and 13 other states. Instead of a tobacco buyout bill, Congress passed a farmer sellout bill last fall, letting tobacco companies off the hook for the final Phase II payment due to growers. Sadly, our leaders were warned that the legislation had a serious problem but passed it anyway... With no effective date, the companies could avoid making the December 2004 payment to farmers. The letter was addressed to members of the House and Senate who were on a conference committee working out final details of the legislation. Lexington Herald-Leader Fri, 11 Feb 2005 05:00:00 GMT http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13909552&BRD=1283&PAG=461&dept_id=158544&rfi=6 http://tobacco.org/news/189030.html Blevins, a slate of tobacco market analysts and experts knowledgeable in new, or sustainable, farming methods gathered at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center to talk to Southwest Virginia tobacco farmers about the future of the crop and its alternatives. "Tobacco will continue, but it will continue in a different way," said Ninth District Rep. Boucher, D-Abingdon, who hosted the tobacco conference, an annual tradition he has maintained for 22 years. "People who are good at it will continue. Tobacco will be important to the economy of the region for decades to come." Coalfield.com Star and The Post) rbaird@coalfield.com (JOHN MONGLE, Staff Writer) Tue, 08 Feb 2005 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/110725399289380.xml http://tobacco.org/news/188414.html Tobacco growers are being squeezed between the government's plan to phase out a 1930s-vintage price support system and cigarette makers' refusal to pay millions under an agreement tied to a master settlement of anti-smoking lawsuits with 46 states... "A lot of that money has already been spent, and here they come and say you ain't going to get it," said Bob Koehler of Ripley, vice president of the Ohio Tobacco Growers Association. "That puts a lot of boys in a pinch." The four major tobacco companies contend that under terms of an amendment to the Phase II agreement, they don't have to make the final payment of 2004 and are entitled to a refund of payments made earlier in the year. Cleveland Plain Dealer Tue, 01 Feb 2005 05:00:00 GMT http://www.amnews.com/public_html/?module=displaystory&story_id=11505&format=html http://tobacco.org/news/188309.html Last year in Washington, Congress passed the Fair and Equitable Tobacco Reform Act of 2004. The act's intended purpose was to ensure that tobacco companies made Phase II payments for 2004 to tobacco growers and quota owners. But a recent court decision ruled that the tobacco companies are not required to make the Phase II funding available for 2004 as intended by Congress. Due to this unfortunate ruling from an unelected judge in North Carolina, some 160,000 tobacco growers and quota owners, deserving and expectant of the promised monies, stand to lose the $124 million promised to them. This is a travesty for our already fragile farm economy in Kentucky, and I am leading the charge, along with other concerned members in the state legislature, to make sure our farmers get what they deserve. Danville Advocate-Messenger Mon, 31 Jan 2005 05:00:00 GMT http://www.wkyt.com/Global/story.asp?S=2826824 http://tobacco.org/news/187253.html In the long struggle over tobacco tax increases in Kentucky, supporters on Tuesday picked up a new and surprising ally - the Kentucky Farm Bureau. Farm Bureau President Sam Moore told a legislative panel that the organization will throw its considerable influence behind an increase in the tax on tobacco products, but there is a catch or two. First, Moore said the increase should not make Kentucky's cigarette tax higher than the average of the adjacent states, which is 42 cents to 46 cents, depending on how it is calculated. And, Moore said, some of the proceeds should go to make payments farmers were expecting from tobacco manufacturers that are now in doubt. WKYT-TV CBS 27 Thu, 20 Jan 2005 05:00:00 GMT