General North Carolina Agriculture
What crop does North Carolina rank number one in producing nationwide besides tobacco?
Sweet potatoes
What specific type of tobacco accounts for over 95% of North Carolina's production?
Flue-cured (or "brightleaf") tobacco, known for its golden-yellow color.
Who accidentally discovered the curing process for Brightleaf tobacco, and in what year?
An enslaved man named Stephen, working on a farm in Caswell County, accidentally cured tobacco with fire/charcoal heat in 1839.
What are the top two livestock and poultry commodities by cash receipts in North Carolina?
Broiler chickens (chicken raised for meat) and hogs/pigs.
Where does North Carolina rank nationally in tobacco production?
Number one, accounting for roughly 60% of the entire U.S. tobacco crop
How does North Carolina currently rank in the United States for the production of flue-cured tobacco?
North Carolina ranks in the nation, producing the vast majority of the country's flue-cured tobacco.
Approximately how many total acres of farmland are in North Carolina?
About 8.1 million acres.
What share of North Carolina's harvested tobacco is exported internationally?
Roughly two out of every three rows grown (shipped to over 30 countries)
What is "flue-cured" tobacco, and why was it so important to North Carolina's economy?
It is tobacco cured by heat conducted through flues (pipes) from a furnace so the smoke doesn't touch the leaves directly.
What is the economic impact of the tobacco industry in North Carolina?
Tobacco production, manufacturing, wholesaling, and retailing contribute roughly $12.7 billion in economic impact to the state.
What is flue-curing?
A method of drying harvested tobacco leaves in heated barns without letting smoke touch the leaves.
Which North Carolina family pioneered mass-production techniques in cigarette manufacturing during the 1880s, creating a massive economic boom?
The Duke family.