While agricultural lenders throughout the US face considerable anxiety over the outlook for farming, perhaps the greatest degree of uncertainty exists in the tobacco sector. North Carolina and Kentucky together comprise more than 2/3 of total production. These 2 states are also the most economically dependent on tobacco and most affected by changes occurring in tobacco farming. The amount of domestic tobacco products annually is down sharply, in part because of reduced cigarette production is down because of slackening domestic demand and declining exports. The USDA has announced a 3rd consecutive year of large reductions in quota - the amount of tobacco growers are allowed to sell.