Buyout brings farmers chance for change

State farmers will see billions of dollars as part of a tobacco buyout approved by Congress on Monday that will deconstruct a decades-old quota system.

The $10 billion buyout was given the go-ahead as part of a $136 billion corporate tax bill and now awaits the signature of President Bush. The Senate voted in favor of the bill 69-17.

"It will begin to put some stability into the growing of tobacco and put some certainty back into (the farmers') future," said Larry Wooten, president of the N.C. Farm Bureau.

Under the buyout, North Carolina will see about $4 billion come into the state to end a 60-year-old system, which restricted the amount of tobacco grown by farmers and, in turn, increased price and profitability.

But recent years have left farmers struggling, as outside competition created a tougher market for domestic tobacco farmers. The buyout will provide farmers with an opportunity to get out of the industry or revamp their farms.

"It is critically important for our farm families and will provide an economic ripple effect throughout rural North Carolina," said Sen. Elizabeth Dole in a Monday press release. "Today is a truly historic day for the state of North Carolina."

Sen. John Edwards was on the vice presidential campaign trail in Iowa and Missouri on Monday and wasn't present for the vote.

"Thanks to hard work by John Edwards and others over the course of several years, it was obvious that it was going to be a lopsided vote in favor of the proposal," said Michael Briggs, the senator's press secretary.

After years of contention concerning a buyout program, most are pleased that the legislation made it through the Senate and the House, which gave the bill clearance last week.

But some said they take issue with certain regulations left out of the bill's final version, including inspections on tobacco imports and restrictions by the Food and Drug Administration.

In a phone conference among area farmers Tuesday hosted by the N.C. Democratic Party, all said that they were happy to see the legislation pass but that certain regulations should not have been left out.

"All the farmers that I know are very pleased," said Keith Parish, president of the National Tobacco Growers Association and a Harnett County farmer.

"We finally have some security, and we finally have some stability. It is also with sadness, though, that we say goodbye to the program that has been there for 60 years."

But Parish said inspections of tobacco imports from countries such as Brazil are important because there is uncertainty about their contents and what pesticides are used. In addition, he said, limits on tobacco farming within U.S. borders also are necessary.

"There's no need to turn this thing completely loose, and that's exactly what's happened," he said.

Many of the tobacco farmers thanked the state's Democratic Senate candidate, Erskine Bowles, for his help in getting the legislation through. They said his work played a large role in the gains state farmers saw Monday.

Others, including Wayne County farmer Jerry West, expressed frustration with Rep. Richard Burr, R-N.C., who also is running for the Senate seat. They expressed frustration about Burr's support for the bill and its lack of inclusion of items like import inspection and the FDA regulations.

West said that in the end, the buyout as passed could cost him and his sons hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"I think they have proven in the past just how much they care about American tobacco farmers," he said. "This is the kind of people we're dealing with, and that's the people that won in this thing. It was ... greed that won out over tobacco farmers and quota owners' needs."

But Burr's press secretary, Douglas Haye, said in a separate interview that the bill wouldn't have reached the president with those kinds of stipulations. "We had to craft legislation that would be acceptable. The House of Representatives was not going to accept the FDA regulations, period," he said.

"Now, Erskine Bowles had always said that the legislation couldn't get through without FDA regulation. Richard Burr showed not only that it could be done, but he made it happen."

Regardless, Haye said, farmers are still happy with the end result. "(N.C. farmers) are thrilled that there's a buyout," he said.

"This was a day that a lot of people thought they would never see come."

Wooten said for now, just getting the buyout through Congress is a monumental step.

"Our farmers would have taken the buyout with FDA or without FDA. The FDA issue can still come up, and it has another day to be discussed.

"But if we had missed this opportunity, we would have missed the opportunity for a buyout."

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.