"The [tobacco] industry has shrunk since the federal program of production quotas and price supports ended in 2004, and consolidated into larger farms. Pratt estimated the number of burley growers has plummeted from 175,000 to 3,000. And that has reduced the political influence of the crop that once had a powerful hold on Congress and state legislatures."In other words, in 15 years the number of farmers has dropped to 2 percent of its starting level.
Side comments: there's still the meme on the left that farm programs help the big guys, which drastically oversimplifies by lumping all farm programs together.
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