Washington ? The federal government is looking for a way to get out of the tobacco business and possibly get U.S. farmers out of it as well.

Several plans now gaining support in Washington and on farms across the tobacco belt would allow farmers to cash in their federally backed quotas and possibly quit growing tobacco.

The federal government would give farmers $15 billion or more and stop buying tobacco from them.

Talk of a tobacco buyout program has been around for years, but the first congressional hearings on the topic will be today. Many congressional leaders believe there should be such a program but disagree over how it should work and how it would affect U.S. growers.

Under some plans, U.S. farmers who accept the buyout would not be allowed to grow tobacco anymore. Whatever the outcome, the program will alter the face of the Carolinas’ countryside and their economies.

“Love it or hate it, tobacco is woven into the fabric of North Carolina’s history and our tax policy and our economy,” said Peter Daniel of the North Carolina Farm Bureau.

With 17,000 tobacco farmers, North Carolina leads the nation in tobacco production. North Carolina farmers grew 389 million pounds of tobacco in 2001, nearly 50 percent more than the No. 2 state, Kentucky. South Carolina farmers grew 78 million pounds in 2001, fourth highest in the nation.

Republican Sen. Jesse Helms, who introduced his own buyout plan Wednesday, is making the issue his top domestic priority for the remainder of his term, according to his office. Sen. Ernest “Fritz” Hollings, D-S.C., and Rep. Mike McIntyre, D-N.C., have also introduced buyout plans. Executives with Philip Morris, the largest buyer of U.S. tobacco, will testify today and said Wednesday that they support some version of the plan.

Helms wants to see tobacco farmers get a fair price for their allotments, which in many cases have been passed from generation to generation.

“Without tobacco, North Carolina would not be where it is today,” said David Rouzer of Helms’ office. “Think of the hospitals and the universities that were built through the hard work of North Carolina’s tobacco farmers.”

Under several proposed bills, the federal government would pay up to $12 per pound of tobacco quota that a farmer owns. That’s as much as $12,500 per acre in some areas, according to the North Carolina Farm Bureau.

“I’d take it in a minute,” said Durmond Cash, 43, who farms 100 acres outside Rocky Mount, N.C. “I’m barely making a living right now. I’ve got a wife, two kids I want to see go to college. I can’t afford to stay in this business.”

Public health agencies like the idea of a tobacco buyout because they see it as a way to reduce the amount of tobacco produced here, said Matthew Myers of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

“We are prepared to support a bipartisan buyout program,” Myers said.