Some South Carolina tobacco farmers are be- 

 ginning to bulk-cure their crops. The leaf is hung 

 in bales while warm air is forced into the barn 

 through vents. Although this method is growing 

 in popularity, the vast majority of farmers still 

 use the traditional flue-curing method. 



R 



rom bams to buyers 



Once out of the curing barns starting in July, 

 the bright-yellow leaf, sorted and placed onto 

 sheets as loose leaves goes to the market through- 

 out the season which normally ends in the fall. 

 The market opening is marked by intense activity 

 on the part of auctioneers, buyers, warehousemen, 

 truckers and others in the 37 warehouses operating 

 during 1971 in 11 South Carolina markets. Buyers 

 for the major tobacco manufacturers purchase the 

 tobacco and have it shipped to redrying plants in 

 preparation for product manufacturing. 



The leaf is a cash crop unlike corn, for example, 

 which the farmer might feed to his cattle. In 1971 

 tobacco farmers received about $100,283,000 for 

 flue-cured leaf sold in the state. The average price 

 was 75.8 cents per pound. This places South 

 Carolina in the number three position for the 

 amount of tobacco produced in the United States 

 —behind only North Carolina and Kentucky. 



Before cured tobacco can be converted into con- 

 sumer commodities, nature imposes a long sleep 

 upon it, an aging process that improves its flavor 

 and aroma. Huge hogsheads of tobacco, after 

 initial processing of the leaf, are stowed in sprawl- 

 ing warehouses that collectively occupy miles 

 of space in many tobacco manufacturing cities 

 throughout the south. 



