Tobacco Farmers Fear Tax May Cut Need For Product
LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.)
Pennsylvania’s tobacco far
mers are working long and hard
hours in the field, tobacco plants
are slowly flowering due to this
year’s prolonged drought, and the
success of the tobacco harvest (in
the fields and in the state house) is
still in question. Basically, there’s
no joy these days in the smokeless
tobacco fields of Pennsylvania.
That’s because Governor Casey
has proposed a 30 percent tax on
smokeless tobacco. The fear
among tobacco farmers is that this
tax means fewer sales, and fewer
sales means loss of jobs, revenue,
and livelihood.
“When you say smokeless
tobacco, you say Pennsylvania,
and it’s unbelievable that the gov
ernor is trying to balance the
budget on the backs of hard
working smokeless tobacco grow
ers,” said Claude Martin of Lan
caster Leaf.
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This tax proposal, part of
Governor Casey’s latest initiative
to resolve Pennsylvania’s $3 bil
lion budget deficit, is presently
being debated in the state legisla
ture.
The fact is this tax would only
generate less than 14 ofl percent
of the revenue needed to resolve
the deficit. Meanwhile, Pennsyl
vania’s smokeless tobacco far
mers say they’ve been unjustly
singled out by the governor to
solve a problem that lawmakers
have created.
“I’ve always been willing to
pay my fair share, but my fair
share seems to be never ending,”
said William Snavely of Lancas
ter, a fifth generation tobacco far
mer.
“My family has worked the
land and raised smokeless tobacco
since the 1800 s. This lax not only
threatens our family tradition, but
it endangers my livelihood as
Pennsylvania Dealers
M.M. WEAVER ft SONS
169 N. Qroffdala Rd.
Laola, Pa.
717-656-2321
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1066 Lincoln Way Wast
Chambarsburg, Pa.
717-263-8424
Maryland Dealers
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510 E. Wilson Blvd.
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301-739-2223
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well,” said tobacco farmer Dave
Johnston, while taking a break
from his field.
“The human element is the
most important element of this tax
proposal,” said Johnston. ‘‘Rais
ing the tax endangers a way of life
that Pennsylvania smokeless
tobacco farmers have known for
generations.”
Pennsylvania’s smokeless
tobacco industry is built upon the
family tradition and hard work of
its tobacco farmers. It’s tough,
mostly hand work, from the prepa
ration of the seedbeds to the morn
ing of auction. It takes more than
250 man-hours to grow and
harvest a single acre of tobacco
leaf. And modem technologies
have done little to change the fam
ily farmers’ cultivation of the crop
since the 17th century.
Tobacco is one of the few crops
that gives Pennsylvania’s family
farmers something to do year
Cash Receives Advising Award
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre
Co.) Dr. Erskine H. Cash, pro
fessor of animal science in Penn
State’s College of Agriculture,
received the 1991 College of Agri
culture Alumni Society’s Excel
lence in Academic Advising
Award.
The award recognizes advisers
with outstanding skills in academ
ic advising, individual student goal
setting, career planning, and per
sonal counseling. Advisers in the
College of Agriculture are nomi
nated by alumni, faculty, students,
and administrators.
As past coordinator of advising
for the dairy and animal science
baccalaureate degree program.
Cash’s responsibilities included
recruiting prospective students,
orienting new students to the prog-
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round. Tiny tobacco seeds are
planted in the late fall, with only
one in four actually growing into a
strong plant. In the springtime,
tiny 5-6 inch tobacco plants are
pulled by hand to be transplanted.
With about 8,000 tobacco plants
growing on an acre, transplanting
takes the family farmer a consid
erable amount of time. But it’s
nothing compared with the time
and work involved in harvesting,
curling, and storing the crop. Dur
ing the fall, mature stalks are cut
by hand, stripped and stored in the
family bam.
The benefits of hard-working
Pennsylvania family tobacco far
mers continue to be witnessed at
the state’s treasury. The tobacco
industry employs more than
85,000 Pennsylvanians and bears
a grossly disproportionate share of
the state’s tax burden. In 1990,
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Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 6, 1991-Cl 5
ram, assisting other student advis
ers, and maintaining a file of sum
mer and full-time employment
opportunities.
“I can think of no other profes
sor more deserving of this recogni
tion than Dr. Cash,” said Kenneth
Winebark, associate extension
agent in Lebanon County, in a let
ter supporting Cash’s nomination.
“His guidance, friendship, and
generosity have had a tremendous
impact on my life and the lives of
many others.”
Other nominees for this year’s
excellence in advising award were
Dr. Robert 0. Herrmann, professor
of agricultural economics; James
W. Hilton, associate professor of
agricultural engineering and edu
cation; and Michael D. Orzolck,
professor of vegetable crops.
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federal and state government col
lected $2.2 billion in tobacco
related revenue. Much of this bur
den, $510.8 million, was paid out
in excise and sales tax alone.
“There’s nothing quite like
providing for your family by wak
ing up at 5:30 a.m. every morning,
putting in fourteen hour days, and
finally seeing a bountiful crop of
tobacco that you’ve cultivated and
nurtured from a tiny seed,” said
Johnston.
If Governor Casey’s smokeless
tobacco tax passes, those days
could become faint memories.
Johnston simply states: “I am a
good husband and father, I give to
the community, I pay my taxes. I
do all the things that a hard
working American is supposed to
do. And Governor Casey wants to
put me out ol business, I don’t
understand it.”
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