News-Argus/Bobby Williams

Many tobacco farmers in the Wayne County area will begin harvesting their crops this week. Gerald and Tom Bell and Brent and John Davis started their joint harvest early today in a field near the Wayne-Duplin county line, with workers pulling the leaves the old-fashioned way -- by hand -- to be taken to curing barns where the green leaves will become golden brown in about a week. Gerald Bell is seen driving the tractor as hands reach for the bottom leaves on the plants. Wayne is one of the leading tobacco growing counties in the state, with about 8,800 acres under cultivation.