2 GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 



II. TOBACCO 



A. National marketing quota 



1. When proclaimed. — The Secretary is required to proclaim a national 

 marketing quota for any kind of tobacco whenever he finds that the total supply ^ 

 thereof as of the beginning of the marketing year then current exceeds the reserve 

 supply level.^ The Secretary is, however, regardless of the supply situation, 

 required to proclaim a quota for each kind of tobacco for which a quota was pro- 

 claimed in the preceding year. In addition, a quota for Virginia sun-cured 

 tobacco must be proclaimed for each year for which a quota is proclaimed for 

 fire-cured tobacco. The quota for any marketing year may be proclaimed any 

 time between the beginning of the preceding marketing year * and December 1 

 foUowing (sec. 312 (a)). 



2. Amount. — The amount of the quota is that quantity of tobacco which will 

 make available during the marketing vear a supply equal to the reserve supply 

 level (sec. 312 (a)). 



3. Referendum. — Within 30 days after the proclamation of the quota, the 

 Secretary is required to conduct a referendum to determine whether the farmers 

 who produced the previous crop of tobacco favor or oppose such quota. The 

 statute provides that, in addition to voting on whether quotas are favored for a 

 period of 1 year, the Secretary shall also submit the question of whether quotas 

 are favored for a period of 3 years. Approval by at least two-thirds of the farmers 

 voting in the referendum is required to make quotas effective, and the Secretary 

 is required to proclaim the results of the referendum if quotas are disapproved. 

 Disapproval of quotas does not preclude the proclamation and submission to a 

 referendum of a national marketing quota for any year thereafter (sec. 312 (b)). 



4. Termination or increase in quota. — The quota may be increased or terminated 

 if, after investigation, the Secretary finds such action necessary to (a) make avail- 

 able free of marketing restrictions a normal supply of tobacco, {b) meet a national 

 emergency, or (c) meet an increase in export demand for tobacco. In addition, 

 the quota may be increased not l9.ter than the following March 1 by not more than 

 20 percent to'meet market demands or to avoid undue restrictions on marketings 

 of tobacco (sees. 371 (a), (b), and 312 (a)). 



B. State marketing quotas 



1. Basis. — The amount of the national quota, less that portion set aside for 

 "new" and small farms, is required to be apportioned among the several States 

 on the basis of the production of tobacco in each State during the five calendar 

 years preceding the calendar year in which the national quota is proclaimed 

 (sec. 313 (a)). 



2. Adjustments. — Adjustments in State quotas are required to the extent neces- 

 sary to correct for abnormal conditions of production, for small farms, and for 

 trends in production, giving due consideration to seed bed and other plan^ diseases 

 (sec. 313 (a)). 



3. Minimum State quotas. — Minimum State quotas are provided only for flue- 

 cured tobacco States, and the amount of such quota is required to be equal to 

 500 acres times the national average yield of flue-cured tobacco for the preceding 

 5 vears (sec. 313 (e)). 



~4. State acreage allotments. — The Secretary is authorized to convert the State 

 poundage quota into a State acreage allotment on the basis of the average yield 

 per acre of the tobacco in the State during the 5 years preceding the year in which 

 the national quota is proclaimed, with appropriate adjustments for abnormal 

 conditions of production in the State (sec. 313 (g)). 



C. Farm marketing quotas 



1. Basis. — The State quota is required to be allotted to farms on the basis of 

 past marketings, adjusted for abnormal weather and plant diseases; land, labor, 

 and equipment available for the production of tobacco; crop-rotation practices; 

 and the soil and other phvsical factors affecting the production of tobacco (sec. 

 313 (b)). ' , . 



2. New and small farms. — Not more than 5 percent of the national marketing 

 quota is required to "be allotted to farms on which no tobacco has been produced 



2 Carry-over at the begiuning of the marketing year plus the estimated production in the United States 

 during the calendar year. , , , ,„, ^ , .u *• 



3 Normal supply (normal year's domestic consumption and exports plus 1/5 percent of the consumption 

 and 65 percent of tha exports) plus 5 percent thereof. 



< July 1 for flue-cured and October 1 for other kinds of tobacco. 



