Those New Mcclelland Prices

[sablebrush52]

Same here. When one considers all the work involved at the growers end (sowing seed, planting out, weeding, harvesting etc) then you get the processors who deal with the trimming, sweating, smoking, casing etc. After all of that the blending and canning so at the end of the day the leaf has passed through so many hands over a long period of time and of course everyone takes a cut of the value.
It really is astonishing (to me at least) that it can be sold so cheaply considering all the effort and expenses involved from field to tin.

That's changing. Federal subsidies to tobacco farmers and price supports have ceased and farmers are turning to more profitable crops. The McNeils referred to this in their farewell statement. This change has likely affected the availability of the traditionally cured and aged leaf that the McNeils needed for their blends. Either prices go up to a level sufficient to encourage continued production of high quality tobacco or quality and production decline. We've had it way too good, and now we're finding that out.