A federal district court judge threw out a suit by Philip Morris USA challenging the government method of calculating payments by tobacco companies used to buy out U.S. tobacco quotas, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

Judge Henry Hudson upheld the payment system as set out in revised regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2010, the newspaper said in a story on its website. The payments began under authority granted by the Fair and Equitable Tobacco Reform Act of 2004 to raise revenue for a buyout of quota rights that date back to the Depression years. The quotas mostly are owned by tobacco farmers and are being acquired over a 10 year period, according to the Times-Dispatch. (pi)