When I was young, maybe 6 years old, I recall climbing up a long-retired rusted Minneapolis-Moline tractor at McCray’s Farm in South Hadley, Mass. There, lost in youthful imagination, I envisioned puttering down guess rows in the old tractor’s seat, its diesel motor puffing smoke.
At one point, the Connecticut River Valley of northern Connecticut, western Massachusetts and southern Vermont produced nearly all the nation’s premium cigar tobacco. Our nutrient-rich glacial soil and humid summers made it optimal for growing the broadleaf variety.
For a century, these cash crops were the region’s primary economic engine. High school students like my grandmother grew up picking tobacco…