MARKETING 
Around 95 percent of the tobacco grown in the United States is marketed 
by the "loose leaf" auction method. Most of the remaining 5 percent, made up 
principally of cigar-leaf tobacco, is sold directly on the farms. A small 
quantity is sold in hogsheads. 
The loose leaf auction system as a method of selling first appeared at 
Richmond, Va., in 1842. Following the Civil War, the system came to be widely 
accepted throughout the rapidly-expanding flue-cured belt in the North Caro 
lina and Virginia areas. Auction marketing was introduced in the Kentucky and 
Tennessee areas at Clarksville, Tenn., in 1901. 
THE AUCTION METHOD OF SELLING 
Growers deliver their tobacco to the auction warehouse of their choice, 
where it is sold to the highest bidder. The bidders are buyers for manufac- 
turers, dealers, and exporters; and independent dealers or speculators. The 
auction system is of vast proportions as it must provide the facilities for 
handling nearly 2 billion pounds of tobacco annually, mostly within the period 
of August through February. 
The length and period of the marketing season varies for the different 
types, and, to some extent, from year to year. The selling begins when the 
Georgia and Florida flue-cured markets open toward the end of July of the 
year of production, and ends when sales in Maryland are completed about the 
first week in July of the year following production. The season is so stagger- 
ed that it is possible to find an auction sale in progress in some area almost 
any time during the year. The following chart shows the approximate marketing 
periods for the types sold at auction: 
APPROXIMATE PERIODS OF TOBACCO 
AUCTION MARKETING SEASONS 
NOV.| DEC. | JAN. | FEB. | MAR. APR. | MAY JUNE | JULY 
Class and type | JULY AUG. | SEPT. OCT. 
Flue-cured: le | [ i 
4 [ | ea E 
13 
12 (piven ae [een 
NI (b) | [ 
11 (a) 
Burley 
7 7 
35 
21 i | 
22 
23 
+— + T + i 
37 | | | 
Maryland: [ ie | : 
| 
32 | Z| [ Scie RT RY 
* YEAR FOLLOWING PRODUCTION 
U.S, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE NEG, C&MS 193-66(8) CONSUMER AND MARKETING SERVICE 
=: i 
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