According to Shaw, the tobacco grown in North Carolina is better than tobacco grown in other parts of the world. He said most of the local tobacco goes into cigarette production. (Source: WECT) Tobacco was the largest cash crop in North Carolina up until about 2004 when tobacco quotas ended and producers sign up to receive ten years of federal money to stop growing the crop. That movement was called the "Tobacco Buyout Program." Now, ten years later, the program is coming to an end. Farmers will no longer receive checks from the government after this year. Many farmers are planting tobacco, once again, in an effort to make ends meet. "We have nowhere near the amount of tobacco we had ten ... [Read more]