ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond County Tobacco Research Referendum will be held on Thursday, Nov. 19.
Susan Kelly, county Cooperative Extension director, said one polling place has been established in the county. The polling location is the Agriculture Services Center, 123 Caroline St., Rockingham, at the Cooperative Extension office.
Kelly explained the referendum is being held to let tobacco growers decide if they wish to continue the self-assessment program. This program has been in place since 1991, and the law requires that a new referendum be held every six years.
A two-thirds favorable vote will mean that growers are willing to continue to assess themselves to support tobacco research and education. The assessment is 10 cents per hundred pounds of tobacco produced in North Carolina.
The funds, about $300,000 annually, are collected at buying stations by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and then allocated by the Tobacco Research Commission to research and extension projects for tobacco at N.C. State University.
For more information on the referendum, call the Richmond County Cooperative Extension office at 910-997-8255.