The Cotton and Tobacco Program provides tobacco grading services on harvested tobacco submitted for potential Risk Management Agency (RMA) crop insurance quality-loss adjustments. This partnership is between the Agricultural Marketing Service, Risk Management Agency and a third-party cooperative seeking to coordinate and authenticate tobacco producers’ insurance claims.
C&T’s role is to provide unbiased, third-party grading on tobacco submitted for potential RMA crop insurance quality-loss adjustments, and are offered to producers, companies, and researchers on a voluntary basis. Tobacco grades are used as the final determination for quality on the product. This quality grade translates into a value of the crop, allowing the producer to apply a quantifiable value to a loss. RMA then uses this information to support or deny the producer’s loss insurance claim.
Tobacco Pesticide Testing
The Cotton and Tobacco (C&T) Program’s Grading Division collects samples, upon request from customers, for pesticide residue testing by the AMS Science and Technology Program.
Contact Info:
The Grading Division maintains one tobacco operations office based in Raleigh, NC.
USDA AMS Cotton and Tobacco Program
Tobacco Field Operations
Dale Leffelman, Field Supervisor
920 Main Campus Dr., Suite 200,
Raleigh, NC 27606
Phone: (252) 917-4932
Email: dale.leffelman@usda.gov