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limited amount of corn and hay to feed their cattle. During the
year in issue, petitioners grew approximately 50,000 pounds of
tobacco on their farm. Petitioners also purchase, and make ready
for market, tobacco crop from tobacco farmers who do not
themselves process the tobacco.
To make their tobacco ready for market, petitioners process
the tobacco in the following manner: Petitioners generally
harvest their tobacco crop at the end of July. The cut tobacco
is then mounted over approximately 4-foot-long sticks, six to
eight plants on a single stick. The tobacco is then left in the
field for a few days for field curing; i.e., drying. Thereafter,
the tobacco is loaded onto wagons and transported to a tobacco
barn. In the tobacco barn, the tobacco sticks are hung on
stringers and left to cure for several months, generally until
October. Petitioners hire a "few" employees for about 6 weeks to
assist them with the aforementioned tasks.
After curing their tobacco, petitioners strip the tobacco
leaves from the stalk and grade them into 3 to 4 different
qualities. Stripping and grading of the tobacco leaves are
essential parts of petitioners' tobacco business. Finally,
petitioners bale the graded tobacco leaves, put them into boxes,
and transport them to another location where they are eventually
shipped to the market. Petitioners hire a "few" employees,
generally for about 5 months, to assist them with the stripping,
grading, baling, and boxing of the tobacco leaves.
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