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Will new tobacco legislation affect farmers?

By Cory Stark - bio | email
Posted by Sarah Harlan - email

HOPKINS CO., KY (WFIE) - President Obama signed new legislation Monday that gives the FDA authority over tobacco and nicotine and how those products are manufactured and marketed.

How will this new legislation affect tobacco farmers in Kentucky?  

It's another tobacco growing season, and the president's new law will likely have an impact on local farmers.

"I say, eventually in the long run, there is going to be less tobacco use, so there is going to be less needed to be produced," tobacco farmer Shawn Brumfield said.

Under the new anti-smoking bill, cigarette packages must have a warning label that covers 50 percent of the front and back packaging, and light or mild cigarettes are off the market.

"Obviously, tobacco is a product that is harmful to the health of a person, so it seems to me like the FDA will try to have some control over that," Brumfield said.

Brumfield said tobacco growing is an ever-changing industry that he just has to adapt to, and just two months ago he and his family discussed not growing tobacco plants at all.

This year they did grow tobacco, but cut their production from 10 acres to five acres.

Brumfield said new federal regulations keep him on his toes and force him to think about the future.

"My take on things is, farmers have to adapt no matter what the situation is each year," Brumfield said. "I'll produce tobacco while I can and it's profitable, when it's not, I'll find something else to do."

And that something else is something less controversial: wheat and beans.

Brumfield said there is no use in getting upset over new government regulations.

"It's part of life, it's part of living in America," Brumfield said.

Supporters of the bill said it will help significantly reduce the amount of tobacco-related deaths and reduce the billions of dollars worth of health care costs attributed to smoking in the U.S. each year.

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