Proposal would ‘cripple’ Kentucky burley tobacco

(Southeast Farm Press) Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer is denouncing proposed international rules that would unfairly target Kentucky growers and could cripple a substantial portion of Kentucky's economy.
Commissioner Farmer joined members of Kentucky’s congressional delegation and fellow agriculture commissioners from other tobacco-growing states in opposing proposed World Health Organization regulations that would ban ingredients other than tobacco in cigarette production.
Burley tobacco becomes harsh-tasting during the curing process, so manufacturers add flavors to make cigarettes made with burley more palatable to smokers. A global ban on such additives in effect would eliminate the market for Kentucky-grown burley, Commissioner Farmer said. Continued

Image: Taking Burley tobacco in from the fields, after it has been cut, to dry and cure in the barn, Russell Spears' farm, vicinity of Lexington, Ky. 1940 (Marion Post Wolcott/Library of Congress)