By Conti
Frankfort, KY – The general manager of the Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative fears a lot of Kentucky tobacco farmers will go out of business this year. That's what Brian Furnish told the House Committee on Agriculture and Small Business last week.
"It's what I refer to as the perfect storm," Furnish said. "We had the worst curing conditions in a lifetime for any farmer growing tobacco. We had terrible curing conditions; we had the dry weather and no rain. So we have the worst color crop in my lifetime and probably most people's lifetime. We also have the uncertainty of FDA regulations."
Furnish says uncertainty about the possibility of new FDA regulations on tobacco has prompted the domestic market to reduce inventories. He says it's also difficult for farmers to get financing to plant a crop for next season.