Just wondering..

[imported_Counts]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sup-rbeast</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Counts</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sup-rbeast</div><div class="ubbcode-body">See if those in Scott County share your sentiment. Tobacco was to them what coal is to you. And, in the grand scheme of things, tobacco meant more to VA than coal. </div></div>


Tobacco in Scott &lt;&gt; the Coal in SWVA Not even close give me the numbers of people employeed by the Tobacco industry localy and if you were to put a coupple of zeros behind then you would get close to Coal </div></div>
Many families grew tobacco...not many now that the gov. bought their quotas up, but at one time not too long ago, it was a major source of revenue for the county. </div></div>

I do not doubt that is was big for the farmers and when I lived in Castlewood I had several friends that did the tobacoo thing with there famley for extra cash butI would bet that there are more prople employeed just in the transportation of coal than they are involved in tobacco...... If Coal goes under then we will have nothing but a few call centers to turn to for employeement (well there is the gas riggs but if I am not mistaken that was called a dirty fuel by that group as well so....)

[sup-rbeast]

Scott Co. and Wise Co. are like night and day. Coal over there, farms over here...and many used to be dedicated to the production of a large crop of tobacco. It was a livlihood...In addition, in Wise Co. you have more folks per square mile than in Scott. And regulating tobacco hurt them as bad as coal would Wise Co.

[imported_Counts]

So what do the old Tobacco farmers do now (I know alot raise cattle and one of my former co-workers famley got into dari)

What do you thing 100X as many out of work coal miners/truck drivers/NS/CSX/Loader Operators/Plant Workers/Reclmation workers/Welders/deasel mecanacs/ect. will be able to turn to without relocating

[sup-rbeast]

Many folks in Scott work at Eastman..and some still raise crops. I'd say that is the 2 major jobs...and only 1 is located in the county.

[neutral88]

Ummm, I know about 20 tobacco farmers, or former farmers in SW VA, none of which have ever in their lives done it for a living, and I'm getting ready to marry a girl whose families quota was bought up about 4 years ago, and they said it made more then than the last two years they actually farmed it...

Bottom line, loss of tobacco took NOBODIES full time job in Scott County, and even made some more money than the actual tobacco had ever made them...Remember it is hard to farm tobacco without alot some expensive tractors and such as well...

Loss of coal will take the majority of jobs in SWVA, cause remember, driving over to my neck of the woods where we actually make jobs doesn't count for SWVA jobs...

[sup-rbeast]

Never said it did..but it was a major source of incoming money for many folks in the county. Westmoreland leaving didn't kill Wise Co...they're still mines there.

[neutral88]

losing income, which as I stated above didn't really happen in most cases, and taking away peoples livelly hoods are two seperate things all together...

"Bottom line, loss of tobacco took NOBODIES full time job in Scott County, and even made some more money than the actual tobacco had ever made them...Remember it is hard to farm tobacco without alot some expensive tractors and such as well...

Loss of coal will take the majority of jobs in SWVA, cause remember, driving over to my neck of the woods where we actually make jobs doesn't count for SWVA jobs... "
Face it, nobody wants to live near a powerplant that doesn't have the best scrubbers. The edited statement about coal isn't going to change our energy needs, the past has already done that. Biggest thing could happen right now, is China keeps cutting back. And if you got the guts to work, you don't need an expensive sperad of eq to tobacco farm. It was planted , cultivated and harvested for years without more than a garden tractor. when I first moved back to Lee County it seemed as if everybody grew tobacco. And the best coal miners know, the better you are at your job, the faster you mine out the reserve, we are used to having to change.

[neutral88]

Not sure I'm following you spuds, since you post right in the middle of my quote and all...haha

[imported_Counts]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sup-rbeast</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Never said it did..but it was a major source of incoming money for many folks in the county. Westmoreland leaving didn't kill Wise Co...they're still mines there. </div></div>


Westmoreland was one Company in an industry we are talking about a whole industry that may go under.

And Loseing Westmorland DID hurt Wise Co.


And no one want Spuds to have to find work in a call center [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif[/img]