Farming with Kin: The Roots and Resilience of Reciprocal Labor Practices in Northeast Tennessee

For much of the 20th century, burley tobacco was the principal agricultural commodity for much of the Southern Appalachian region. To produce burley – a labor-intensive crop that was planted, harvested, and processed by hand – required a labor input greater than the size of most farm families. Rural farms in Northeast Tennessee fulfilled this need by sharing the burden of work. Seasonally high labor demands were met by means of reciprocal arrangements between neighbors and kin. A local practice, referred to as “swapping,” made it possible to exchange labor between tobacco producing families. With an ethnographic focus on one Northeast Tennessee community, this paper examines the historic use of reciprocal labor arrangements in the production of burley tobacco. The influence of these practices on the culture of rural communities is considered. Of interest is the resilience of reciprocal labor practice and “tradition” in present-day communities. In addition, this paper explores the ways in which contemporary burley tobacco farming has been shaped by the widespread practice of “swapping” in the not so distant past