Crazy Horse the tobacco that CR produces and I grew is used mostly in cigarettes. It is flue cured tobacco, and it is called that because a heat source is in the curing barns which dry the tobacco leaves. Flue cured tobacco is harvested by priming, pulling, or cropping(these terms all mean the same thing which is picking the leaves from the stalk) from close to the ground, then upwards over 6 to 8 weeks as needed when the leaves mature and ripen. The harvesting can be done by hand or machines. Once cured the leaves are removed from the barn and prepared for marketing.
Tobacco used to be a very labor-intensive crop, and there are times now the old ways have to be used on occasion. I know a grower in my county that cannot use his mechanical harvester because of the damage tropical storm Ian did to his crop. He was planning to finish harvesting his tobacco yesterday. For the last few weeks he has had to harvest by hand or manually, which put him behind. Overall automation and more modern equipment has reduced the amount of manual labor required.
When I grew tobacco, to sell it I took it to a privately-owned warehouse. The leaves were packaged bundles or sheets of tobacco, up to 275 pounds. The sheets were weighed and lined up on the floor. Each sheet was graded based upon its quality and stalk position, how far above the ground the leaves were, and the sheets were sold by auction. Many sets of buyers from various tobacco companies would travel the many warehouses across the flue cured tobacco belt to buy what they needed. Tobacco companies would pick up their purchased tobacco, and move it to their manufacturing plants or warehouse storage facilities.
Today a tobacco farmer contracts with a specific tobacco company to buy his crop. It is packaged in bales weighing up to 700 pounds. The tobacco is re-dried, de-stemmed, and ground to what you would see in a cigarette. Before processing the tobacco companies age it, often with added flavorings sometimes for many years, depending upon what brand their product was. It can also be blended with other tobacco types to produce a certain taste or flavor to for a smoker. There are many videos on the net showing the processes of growing and selling tobacco.
There is a facebook group, Raised on a Tobacco Farm, with lots of interesting pics and info about tobacco farming. This is an attempt at a brief, simple description of only a part what one has to endure when producing tobacco.
There are other tobacco types produced in the US. Burley, dark fired, cigar wrapper, and Maryland tobacco are the ones that come to mind. Different varieties along with climate and growing practices have determined the growing regions for the different types. I hope this helps a little. Tobacco farming has its own set of practices which are very unique.
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