About Smith Farms

Smith Farms, 2458 Kirksey Road, Murray, Kentucky, is a modern tobacco, wheat, corn and soybean farming operation, consisting of approximately 1,200 acres, 300 owned by Smith Farms, 900 acres that are rented. The multiple plots of land are not contiguous.

Smith Farms has a 250-year family history. Ten generations of Smiths live or are buried within a twelve-mile radius of the farm. 

Smith Farms today employs three full-time and eight seasonal employees.

The past five generations of Smiths have also been business owners or educators, in addition to growing crops.

Most of the tobacco produced at Smith Farms is dark fired, and is used for chewing tobacco and snuff.

Tidbits About Tobacco

According to a Huron Indian myth, in ancient times when the land was barren and the people were starving, the Great Spirit sent forth a woman to save humanity. As she traveled over the world, everywhere her right hand touched the soil, there grew potatoes. And everywhere her left hand touched the soil, there grew corn. And when the world was rich and fertile, she sat down and rested. When she arose, there grew tobacco. (Tobacco.org)

In 1904, a New York judge sent a woman to jail for thirty days for smoking in front of her children. (Tobacco.org)

In 1904, Kentucky tobacco farmers formed a violent “protective association” to protect themselves against tactics of large manufacturers, mostly the Duke conglomerate. (Tobacco.org)

By 1906, the “Night Riders” had formed. A group of angry farmers donned hoods and rode out on horses to terrorize other farmers who sold tobacco to the price-gouging American Tobacco Company. They burned barns and fields and even lynched people. They destroyed tobacco factories, crops, and murdered other planters. They were disbanded in 1915. (Tobacco.org)

There are more than sixty species of tobacco, although two are primarily grown today. (EHow.com)

Tobacco farming was well underway in America by 1612. By 1622, many farmers were growing tobacco, because they could make good money selling it to England. (EHow.com)

The seed of a tobacco plant is very small. A one-ounce sample contains about 300,000 seeds. (“History of Tobacco,” BostonUniversity Medical Center)

Chewing tobacco became quite popular with cowboys of the American West. (“History of Tobacco,” Boston University Medical Center)