MECHANICSVILLE - Speeding down windy Route 236 in St. Mary's County -
just south of the Charles County border - it's the wood-planked barns and
the overpowering musty-earthy perfume that let visitors know they've
suddenly entered the heart of tobacco country.
But it's the horse-and-buggy road signs that signal you're also in
Amish country, where the unflinching dedication to growing the noxious
cash crop is trumped only by the residents' dedication to God, a simple
way of life, and disdain for all things government.
The two ways of life - Amish and tobacco are intertwined here, but
perhaps not for much longer. As the state continues its war against
tobacco - and Gov. Parris N. Glendening's program to subsidize tobacco
farmers who switch to alternative crops continues - the
government-shunning religious community, including a Mennonite group, may
be left without a cash crop.
Glendening has said publicly that he would like to see all Southern
Maryland tobacco farmers take the buyout, a virtual impossibility given
that Amish and Mennonite farmers will not do so. But his goal of
eliminating tobacco from the list of crops grown in the state may still
be reached even if the estimated 150 Amish and Mennonite farmers in the
region do not sign up.
Tobacco farmers and program administrators interviewed said buyers who
trek annually to Southern Maryland's tobacco auctions - largely high-end
European cigarette manufacturers who crave Maryland's reportedly fine
product - have made it clear that decreased production might put an end
to those trips, and thus kill the market for tobacco here.
The program has proved popular, and production will likely decrease.
As of mid-November, 260 of the state's estimated 1,200 tobacco farmers
signed up to take the buyout, and many more are expected to get on board
before the Dec. 22 deadline.
Program administrators repeatedly have said farmers who sign up for
the program choose whether to stop growing tobacco. Amish and Mennonite
farmers, because of their government-avoiding beliefs, do not have that
choice.
"The Amish and Mennonites won't participate at all. They're not really
keen on it," said James K. Raley, a St. Mary's County tobacco farmer who
sees the devoutly religious farmers occasionally.
Farmers Share Their Perspective
Two Amish farmers and one Mennonite tobacco grower interviewed for
this story made it plain that life would be difficult without tobacco.
All three spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal in their
communities.
"Tobacco is what saves us," said the first Amish farmer. "If tobacco
is not here, we'd be hurting bad."
Their reasons for not taking the buyout are clear.
"We just don't feel right taking government handouts. We take care of
our own people," said the first Amish farmer. "As far as I know, none of
our people will take the buyout."
But it's even more basic for the second Amishman.
"It's about giving up your rights," he said.
Both the Amish and Mennonites migrated south from Pennsylvania in the
1930s and 1940s, and have built small but solid agriculture-based
communities in that time, the three farmers said.
All three farmers said they feel little animosity toward government
for instituting the program, despite the potential detriment to their
livelihood.
"There's nothing we can do," said the Mennonite farmer. "There's no
use feeling bad."
Government Insists on Involvement
"The governor respects and understands the commitments that the Amish
and Mennonites have to their religion," said Michelle Byrnie, a
Glendening spokeswoman. "But the economic reality is that tobacco is on
its way out." Despite their best efforts to distance themselves from
government, the "real world" encroaches. Many take government nutrient
management classes and have to conform to state pollution standards, said
James "Bubby" Norris, an extension agent for the University of Maryland
Cooperative Extension Service in St. Mary's County. Norris works
frequently with Amish and Mennonite farmers.
Sometimes government involvement creates divisions in the community.
For the past several years, federal subsidies have been available to
tobacco farmers in Maryland to help compensate for the national attack on
their crop. Unlike Maryland's buyout program, the federal subsidy pays
growers while they continue growing the crop.
The Mennonite farmer said some of his people took it.
"It caused a problem in the church," he said, and those who took it
are in the process of returning it.
The three farmers said they are not yet worried about tobacco
disappearing. Still they're planning for the worst.
Alternative crops are an option, though none seem as lucrative as
tobacco.
"If tobacco goes out, we're looking to get into cut flowers," said the
first Amish farmer. "We're not sure if it will be a good thing or not."
"The state would be happy to work with the Amish and Mennonite
communities, if and when they come to the point where they need assistance
transitioning to other crops," Byrnie said. Some companies have had
discussions with individual farmers about entering into a contract
arrangement if the auction market in Southern Maryland dries up.
Other States' Progress
In North Carolina and Virginia, two states that produce most of the
country's tobacco, the contract system has become increasingly popular,
Norris said. The arrangement - where companies agree to buy a certain
amount of tobacco directly from a grower - can be lucrative at first, he
said.
But when the auction system disappears, and companies no longer have
to compete with that system, the conventional wisdom is that those deals
will not be as good for the farmers, he said.
The foreseeable death of tobacco is not just about the end to an
economically viable crop for these communities. It is also about the death
of tradition.
"My sons, that's what they want to do someday," the Mennonite farmer
said. "They'd rather do that than bend over in a produce field all day."
But the Mennonite farmer does not see this as a completely one-sided
issue.
"The way people are looking at tobacco now, we may quit. In a good
Christian light, if it's harmful, maybe we should stop growing it," he
said.
"God will provide one way or another," he said. "I'm not worried.
It's just hard to figure which way to turn right now."
Copyright © 2000 University of Maryland Capital News Service
