THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, December 16, 1995 TAG: 9512160308
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 29 lines
Growers may sell 873.6 million pounds of their 1996 crop of flue-cured tobacco, the Agriculture Department said Friday.
The 1995 quota was 934.6 million pounds.
The reduction was based on lower planned purchases by cigarette makers, a drop in exports and a 27-million-pound discretionary reduction by the agriculture secretary.
The crop may be grown on 418,391 acres, down from the 1995 allotment of 447,605 acres. For each farm, the basic quota and allotment will drop about 6.5 percent.
The minimum price was set at $1.601 a pound, up 0.4 cent from the 1995 price support level.
The combined marketing assessment, shared equally by growers and buyers will be $1.601 cents per pound. Importers will pay $1.601 cents a pound on imported tobacco. by CNB