Kentucky Correspondent

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative Assoc. recently announced the selection of Brian Furnish as its new general manager.

Furnish, a native of Kentucky, is no stranger to the association having worked there in government relations in Frankfort and Washington, D.C.

Furnish also served as the marketing director at the Kentucky Department of Agriculture before accepting his previous position with the Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy.

Besides his co-op duties, Furnish runs a 1,000-acre tobacco and cattle operation.

“I think tobacco is definitely not dead in this state or in this country,” he said. “As a young tobacco farmer myself, I believe there are a lot of opportunities for our members. We all need to work together to communicate and to figure out ways to make money for the co-op and our farmers.”

The organization was originally created in 1921 by growers to help combat low crop prices. When the system of quota regulations was devised in the late 1930s, the co-op was asked to help administer that program which governed tobacco until 2004 when buyout legislation passed.

During that time, the organization would buy tobacco not purchased by tobacco companies and would hold it in pool stocks to be sold later. Farmers received a portion of money up front and the remainder when their crop was sold.

The future of the group has been in question since the buyout, due to few tobacco auctions being needed at a time when most tobacco is sold on a contracted basis rather than a system of auctions.

The co-op has also endured some criticism from growers and negative publicity in the past mainly due to a lawsuit filed in 2003 by eight producers against the association to regain money from a 1982 sale. After the buyout passed, an amendment was added to the suit claiming that approximately 63 million pounds of tobacco that was given to the co-op by Congress via the tobacco buyout legislation belongs to producers.

Earlier this year, a judged ordered the co-op to pay farmers proceeds from the sell of the tobacco in question saying the co-op “has a contractual obligation to distribute the proceeds from the sale.”

Another disruption in the organization came at the end of 2006 when veteran co-op director Danny McKinney was asked, by the groups governing board, to step down. No reason was given at the time for the request.

The past however, is not where Furnish wants to spend his time as the new boss. He said there is much to be done for burley growers, and he intends to help them accomplish their goals.

“We can learn a lot of our past role, but I’ll be working with the board to come up with new income streams,” he said. “Tobacco will always be our No. 1 focus. One big challenge will be moving our leaf into non-traditional areas. I feel like it will be a main focus to find new markets oversees. There is a market for our tobacco, and we grow the best there is so there is a need for a voice. Farmers should know we will be the voice of tobacco and be in a leading role to help our membership benefit in the future.”

Roger Quarles, President of the Burley Tobacco Cooperative Board, said about Furnish, “Brian brought to the Board ideas and enthusiasm to help move the organization forward. He is a proven winner and we think he is a perfect fit for us at this time.”

Furnish graduated from Eastern Kentucky University in 1997 with a B.S. degree in Agri-Business. He resides with his wife and three children on their family farm in Harrison County.

The Burley Cooperative is governed by a 30-member Board of Directors comprised of 26 elected and four at-large members. Co-op membership comes from eligible growers in Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio and West Virginia.

This farm news was published in the Sept. 26, 2007 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.