TOBACCO : NEW MARKETS, OLD TRADITIONS: 12_0_341_1web_rh15

A day before the markets open, tobacco farmer Pressley Johnson (left) and warehouse manager Elton Johnson talk by a bundle of tobacco at the Big L Warehouse in Mullins, South Carolina July 26, 2013. The warehouse is co-owned by farmer Johnny Shelly but leased to the US Tobacco Cooperative during harvest. The cooperative sets the standard for pricing and quality of the farmer's crop. The traditional tobacco harvest requires many labor intensive hours to bring the crop to market, especially with the flue-cured variety prominent in the southern United States. With the growing health concerns with smoking in the US, most farmers use market cooperatives to sell their crop to the growing markets in China. Picture taken on July 26, 2013. REUTERS/Randall Hill (UNITED STATES)

A day before the markets open, tobacco farmer Pressley Johnson (left) and warehouse manager Elton Johnson talk by a bundle of tobacco at the Big L Warehouse in Mullins, South Carolina July 26, 2013. The warehouse is co-owned by farmer Johnny Shelly but leased to the US Tobacco Cooperative during harvest. The cooperative sets the standard for pricing and quality of the farmer's crop. The traditional tobacco harvest requires many labor intensive hours to bring the crop to market, especially with the flue-cured variety prominent in the southern United States. With the growing health concerns with smoking in the US, most farmers use market cooperatives to sell their crop to the growing markets in China. Picture taken on July 26, 2013. REUTERS/Randall Hill (UNITED STATES)