The 137th opening of the Wilson Tobacco Market drew a crowd Wednesday, Aug. 12, setting a festive and hopeful tone for the start of the tobacco buying season that felt equal parts family reunion and pep rally. With America also celebrating its 250th anniversary, many speakers included tributes to America’s first crop and its role in building our country and our state.
Keynote speakers included Congressman David Rouzer and Don Davis who spoke about supporting tobacco growers and working with fellow Congressional representatives in non-tobacco states to find ways to build support on tobacco issues and other ag concerns.
“David, we have passed the Farm Bill in the House. It’s time for the Senate to deliver a Farm Bill. It’s been way too long,” Davis said.
N.C. Lieutenant Governor Rachel Hunt also spoke about growing up on a tobacco farm and her appreciation for all that agriculture continues to contribute to North Carolina. “Today is really about celebrating the people who make North Carolina agriculture so strong; our farmers, our families and the communities that have been built around them.”
Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler rounded out the guest speakers, talking about some of the recent policy wins for the industry, including a new and long needed method for calculating H2A worker pay and tariffs that were imposed on Brazilian tobacco.
The late Governor Jim Hunt, father of the lieutenant governor, was posthumously honored for his long service to the state and especially tobacco farmers by being inducted into the N.C. Tobacco Hall of Fame. Rachel Hunt and her mother the former First Lady Carolyn Hunt accepted the award presented by Troxler on behalf of the Hunt family.
The program concluded with a mock auction of tobacco cured during the 2025 N.C. State Fair. Each bundle “auctioned off” represented the way tobacco has been sold over the years, starting with one sheet of hand-tied tobacco, proceeding to sheets of loose golden leaf and ending with the large square bales sold at the market today.
