ELIZABETHTOWN — The Bladen County Tobacco Research Referendum will be held on Thursday, Nov. 19.

Sandra Cain, Bladen County Cooperative Extension director and County Referendum chairman, has established the polling location as the Bladen County Extension Office located at 450 Smith Circle Drive in Elizabethtown.

Cain explained that 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 100 pounds of tobacco produced in North Carolina.

The money, about $300,000 annually, is 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 information on the referendum, call the Bladen County Extension Office at 910-862-4591.

Staff report