Once burley tobacco is harvested, it is hung to dry for around 3 months. Once it has finished drying, it is taken down from the barn and is graded, baled and taken to the tobacco warehouse for auctioning. Once tobacco has finished drying, it must only be taken down from the barn when it is "in case" to prevent it from crumbling. "In Case" is when there is moisture in the plant which is normally caused by humid or rainy weather. This past season, December 1999, Western North Carolina had a drought and many farmers had trouble getting their tobacco down.

Since Alvin had 13 acres of tobacco, he used his pump, which is a huge irrigation PTO powered pump to wet the outside of his barn which created moisture and helped his tobacco come "in case".