Source: NCDA&CS, 4/1/21


Growing tobacco in North Carolina is nothing new, but tobacco that can sell for nearly $6 per pound certainly is. The recent norm for the state’s traditional flue cured or burley varieties is close to $2 per pound. However, some work at the state’s agricultural research stations means the jaw-dropping $6 figure may become more than just fantasy for some North Carolina farmers.

Dr. Matthew Vann, a NCSU professor and tobacco extension specialist, is leading a research project that explores the possibility of growing expensive cigar wrapper tobacco in the state.

“We know there’s an increased demand in this type of tobacco, and we think demand may be outstripping the traditional production area,” Vann said.

That traditional growing area is the Connecticut River Valley (parts of Connecticut and Massachusetts) and south central Pennsylvania. In more recent years, growers in Kentucky and Tennessee have also grown the tobacco – using their experience in growing similar tobacco for snuff and chewing tobacco. With the price it garners and the need for more producers, it’s easy to understand why.

Vann said the idea to get North Carolina into the game started with Chad Moody, at the Mountain Research Station in Waynesville. In a conversation with Vann, Moody mentioned how tobacco was once a much larger part of the North Carolina landscape and economy and how the tobacco buyout and the market crumbling led many farmers to quit tobacco farming. However, Moody said he thought the cigar wrapper tobacco could be grown in the state, particularly the western part where it could be a good fit for smaller farms that have grown burley. Vann ran with the idea. The general thought was “why not us too in North Carolina?”

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