Farm Bureau supports a bill by Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) on the regulation of tobacco products that provides more explicit protection for farmers from on-farm regulation and changes to production practices than a recently passed House bill that provides the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with broad regulatory authority over tobacco.  The Federal Tobacco Control Act of 2009 (S. 579), authored by Burr, provides greater assurances to U.S. tobacco farmers that additional regulation of tobacco products will not trickle down to the farm. The House-passed bill, H.R. 1256, the Family Smoking and Tobacco Control Act of 2009, could result in FDA regulation of tobacco farms, which AFBF firmly opposes.  AFBF President Bob Stallman wrote a letter to Burr Monday, stressing Farm Bureau’s support of the bill. Stallman praised the Burr bill because it includes language that expressly prohibits the federal government from requiring changes to traditional tobacco farming practices.