North Carolina ranks first and fifth nationally in flue-cured and burley tobacco production, respectively, and is the largest tobacco-producing state in the USA. In 2000, approximately 163,000 acres of flue-cured and 7,800 acres of burley tobacco, which totals only 4% of the state's tillable cropland, were assigned to approximately 40,000 farms in 82 of North Carolina's 100 counties.

Although tobacco quota has declined about 40% since 1996, it accounted for approximately $729 mil of gross farm sales in 2000, making tobacco the fourth largest source of total farm income (12%) and the largest source of total crops income (28%).