The 17,000 acres of peanuts planted in 2006 were the crop s lowest-planted acreage on record in part because of the peanut quota system s demise. Soybeans had been the state s top cash crop for two years, having unseated tobacco in 2004. The biggest surprise revealed by the directory, however, might be the rise of the tomato in the commonwealth s agricultural pecking order. Hay was at the top of the list in acres harvested at more than 1.2 million acres, followed by soybeans, grain corn,...

Billy Gaskill, who smokes and does not chew tobacco, said he opposed the ban and suggested supporters of the restriction were hypocrites with their own health problems. With a 51-27 vote, the House of Representatives fell short of the 67 votes needed to change the rules to ban the use of all tobacco products. Supporters of the ban noted that chamber rules, which prohibit food and drink in the chamber, allow for a day's worth of tobacco juice. Pamphlets on the risks of chewing tobacco that...

One thing worth noting: The governor softened the sales tax blow to low-income workers with children by proposing an expansion of the refundable earned-income tax credit. This hits all of us, although it's more painful for lower-income families who spend more of their paycheck on the basic necessities subject to sales tax. All the details of the governor's proposal aren't out, but tax experts are speculating on what moves consumers are likely to make in response. Raising the refund from 20...

A comprehensive, well-funded tobacco control program is one of the most important things states can do to stop the tobacco epidemic. The 2007 edition reinforces the need for states to adequately fund evidence-based tobacco control and prevention programs to reduce the death and disease caused by tobacco use. The CDC estimates that if states funded their tobacco control programs at the recommended level of investment for 5 years, it would result in 5 million fewer smokers. Originally...

It would be funded by an increased tobacco tax that is unpopular with Republicans, who are pushing a more modest SCHIP expansion that would spend $30 billion over the five-year period. Reports came out Friday night that Democratic leaders were planning to meet Monday with Republican leaders to see what concerns can be addressed to get a passage of the program with a two-thirds majority that would eliminate the veto threat. GOP lawmakers and the Bush administration have argued that the...

But as the tobacco industry attempts to adapt to smoking bans, it is developing dozens of new ways for the body to absorb nicotine -- from hookahs to snus to lozenges to smokeless nicotine delivery systems. That new terrain in the world of tobacco was sketched Thursday by Dorothy Hatsukami, a tobacco researcher at the University of Minnesota, for some of the approximately 3,000 anti-tobacco experts from around the world who are in Minneapolis this week for the National Conference on...