Burley Tobacco Farming Characteristics and Potential for Change

Burley tobacco farms in five areas of Kentucky and Tennessee averaged 2.4 acres of tobacco. Burley producers harvested an average of 23 acres of other crops in addition to burley tobacco. Sixty-three percent of the farms produced livestock. Over two-thirds of the operator households had one or more members with off-farm employment in 1976. An average of 342 hours of labor was used per acre to produce the burley crop. The small burley acreages per farm constrain development and adoption of labor-saving technology. Loose leaf sales of burley may offer the greatest potential for cost savings to farmers. This report provides a basis for understanding the structure of burley tobacco farming and evaluating technological, institutional, and demand changes

Flue-Cured Tobacco Mechanization and Labor: Impacts of Alternative Production Levels

The flue-cured tobacco industry is in a state of transition as farmers are replacing the traditional harvest methods with modern bulk curing systems. The rapid trend toward harvest mechanization experienced in 1972-75 will continue into the eighties, according to an analysis of a wide range of quota levels and wage rates. Adopting new harvest technology is profitable for farmers, and it will have an impact on the demand for harvest labor. In the aggregate, however, harvest mechanization will not cause serious unemployment problems in the flue-cured tobacco belt. During 1972-80, with increased wage rates, the decline in the number of harvest workers is projected to range from 64,000 workers, under a "high" level of production, to 199,000, under a "low" level of production. Harvest jobs are part-time and seasonal. Workers most likely to lose harvest job opportunities are young persons and women. Of tasks eliminated with bulk curing systems, more than 90 percent in 1972 were performed by young persons (mainly 12 to 15 years of age) and by women

Structural Characteristics of Flue-Cured Tobacco Farms and Prospects for Harvest Mechanization

By 1978, mechanical harvesters will be used to harvest an estimated 23-36 percent of the flue-cured tobacco acreage in the study area, which produces three-fourths of all U.S. flue-cured tobacco. Farmers will use bulk barns to cure an expected 65-80 percent of it. Comparison figures of 1972 are 1 and 8 percent, respectively. If these changes occur, labor needed during the harvest will fall as much as 50 percent between 1972 and 1978. In 1972, flue-cured tobacco management units averaged 9.5 acres in the study area, or about three times the size of the average flue-cured tobacco allotment. Close to 60 percent of these units use some harvest system that differs from the more traditional methods: • 8 percent — bulk barns • 47 percent — machines to tie tobacco leaves on sticks • 30 percent — priming aids • 20 percent — traditional method