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Richmond, Va.-based Altria, which also owned Marlboro-maker Philip Morris International, spun it off as an independent company in March. It has since shifted the production of 57 billion cigarettes to overseas factories, but it still buys tobacco grown in the U.S., spokesman Greg Prager said. Prager said Philip Morris International, the world's biggest non-governmental tobacco company, also buys tobacco from Brazil, Malawi, Italy, Greece, Turkey and other countries. He said U.S. tobacco remained a key component of the company's international blends, though he declined to specify how much is bought from U.S. sources, citing competitive reasons. Exports of U.S. tobacco have played a big role in the crop's rebound. Foreign sales peaked in 1978 at 700 million pounds (317 million kilograms), but the price supports meant American farmers were undercut by developing countries such as Zimbabwe and Malawi selling tobacco for as little as a third of the U.S. cost. U.S. exports slid to about 339 million pounds (154 million kilograms) in 2005 before rising again to 398 million pounds (181 million kilograms) in 2006, the USDA said. The rebound was due to a weak dollar and rising currencies overseas, said Blake Brown, a North Carolina State University agricultural economist. In recent months, a strengthening dollar along with a rebound in tobacco production in South America and Africa are causes for concern for export prospects, Snell said. And profit margins remain tight for farmers because of rising costs, Snell said. Whether tobacco companies offer price incentives will be crucial in determining how much U.S. tobacco is grown, he said. "Today's farmers are not like yesterday's farmers -- that since they grew tobacco last year they're going to grow it next year," Snell said. "These farmers will look at the market opportunities year to year." Still, the U.S. is expected to remain the world's fourth-largest tobacco grower throughout this decade, trailing China, India and Brazil, according to the United Nations. Not only has tobacco production expanded outside the Southeast to places like Pennsylvania and Missouri, but farmers are feeling better about their prospects. In 2004, 69 percent of North Carolina growers in one survey said they saw a future in tobacco. Two years into the buyout experience it was 76 percent, according to the research conducted under National Cancer Institute grants. About a third of farmers said in 2006 they would advise their children to grow tobacco, up from about one-fifth in 2004. Pasley said he expects to produce about 500,000 pounds (226,799 kilograms) of burley this year, and that he would have produced another 150,000 pounds (68,040 kilograms) if he'd gotten more rain. "My goal is to sell 1 million pounds (450,000 kilograms) before I turn 30," he said. As he sees it, the best thing tobacco has going for it is demand. "People always chew and smoke," he said.
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