After years of subsidizing tobacco, the federal government ended its tobacco quota program one year ago. Agricultural economics professor Dixie Reaves (Virginia Tech) is the daughter of a tobacco farmer, and Cliff Sommerville advises growers for Virginia State University’s Small Farm Outreach Program. They discuss the economic and emotional implications of the biggest change in farm policy in 70 years.
Also featured: Wendell Berry an activist, author and farmer who writes extensively about rural life, offers his insight into preserving traditional family farms and their communities. And a short outtake from Jim Crawford’s (Virginia Tech) recent documentary “Down in the Old Belt” about the demise of tobacco farming in Virginia.
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