Once a month’s long celebration of Southern Maryland's rural heritage that began in 1939, combining social event and business, the annual Farmers Tobacco Auction in Hughesville has dwindled to three days. During the mid-20th century the warehouses bustled for months before a slow decline took hold. In 2000 Maryland Gov. Parris N. Glendening introduced a buyout program to pay farmers to halt growing tobacco. Farmers representing 92 percent of the state’s production opted into the program. Having 854 farmers in 1999 bringing 9.5 million pounds to market could bring in buyers, but with only 1.4 million pounds of tobacco in 2004 from the holdouts, few were willing to attend.