Tobacco Setting

This is my son's second year to plan tobacco.  Years ago when we were young married we also grew tobacco.  It was a great cash crop that would make the farm payment for the year and give you a little money to get started for the next year.  However, it also was a labor intensive crop that required lots of friends or family to make it profitable.  Back in those days you didn't hire Mexicans to do the work, you did it yourself.  Every  farm had a tobacco base and nearly everyone put out their crop.  When it was time to put it out (set it), top, cut, hang and strip you pulled in your neighbors and family to help.  When it was their turn you helped them.  It meant a lot of hours but it got your crop done with little cash outlay. 

However, things have changed.  Most of the small farmers with a small crop are gone.  Now most of the tobacco is grown by the large farms.  In fact a large portion of our tobacco is now imported from overseas.  The government has "bought out" most of the farmers and they have agreed to take a cash settlement and not grow tobacco.   Many farmers, like us, are farming part time and find the time needed to grow tobacco prohibitive.Now we are gradually seeing a decline in the production of tobacco.  I am convinced that by the time my grandchildren grow up it will be a rare thing to actually see tobacco growing in the fields.

Todays young farmers are using tobacco as a cash crop in addition to another income.  It might be outside income from another job or from other crops.  It is still possible to make a profit from tobacco but it isn't the main income anymore.  So when our son decided to grow tobacco last year we fussed and worried and finally decided to jump in and help.  It's been an experience.

With this in mind I am determined to chronicle the growing of tobacco for my grandchildren.  So I rush down to the tobacco patch and take pictures of every step and every drop of sweat.  I want my grandchildren to remember and know this crop that has meant so much to Kentucky.  No, I don't want them to smoke, chew, dip or otherwise use it but I do want them to understand how much the economy depended on these small farmers and their tobacco crop. 

In a small rural community, before the advent of large factories, there wasn't a single part of the economy that wasn't affected by the growing of tobacco.  Our insurance agency set their farm policies to be renewed and paid in January because the farmers would sell their tobacco in November or December and so would have the cash to pay then. The drugstore would carry customers on credit until they sold their tobacco.  Farmers bought their fertilizer and seed on credit until their crop was sold.  The warehouses where the tobacco sold provided employment for the community.  Literally everything could be traced back to someone's tobacco crop.  

Times changed and rural communities quit being so isolated.  Factories arrived with more opportunities for employment.  Roads improved and people began to move around more.  Women became a major part of the work force and lots of farmers went to part time when they got a job off the farm.  All of this changed the face of farming in our part of the world.  Farmers still farm but like everything else in the universe it is changing with the times. 

Therefore, I am taking pictures of our son and his son growing tobacco. For those of you who may not be familiar with the process, enjoy the learning experience. For those of you who remember tobacco in your younger days, dust off your memories.

 A two row tobacco setter.  Two people alternate putting plants in revolving row of fingers that put to the tobacco in the ground between the two wheels in front.  The water tanks in the back water each  plant as it is set, resulting in mud all over you.  Riding the setter requires that you "play well with others"!

 Someone has to follow the setter to replace those plants that are missed or don't set well.  This means walking every step of the tobacco patch and bending or squatting repeatedly.  For this reason, it is usually designated for someone young.  It would kill most adults.  This is by far the hardest job especially in the record high temperatures we are having. 

Tobacco plants are now grown in float trays in a greenhouse.  It costs more but is so much easier.