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1. • CommentAuthorsussexadmin
   • CommentTimeFeb 11th 2010

    
   AG Transition team Jan 15 2010 report
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2. • CommentAuthorsussexadmin
   • CommentTimeFeb 25th 2010

    
   A change of course in Trenton on agriculture
   
   By Edward Colimore
   Inquirer Staff Writer
   
   Two years ago, 500 angry farmers and their supporters paraded tractors and horses through the streets of Trenton to protest Gov. Jon S. Corzine's plan to eliminate New Jersey's Agriculture Department.
   Corzine said the action was needed to help cut spending and close a state budget deficit.
   Now, facing a far larger shortfall, Gov. Christie's transition team has released a report with recommendations that would strengthen the department nearly axed in 2008 and hike funding for the Jersey Fresh marketing program.
   
   Farmers are seeing a course reversal in a new administration that sees agriculture as an industry capable of creating jobs and tax revenue - with a little nurturing.
   In an economic downturn, "the first thing everybody wants to cut is funding for agriculture," said Jamie Graiff, co-owner of Dan Graiff Farms, which grows baby spinach and baby arugula in Franklin Township.
   "We saw it when [the Corzine administration] wanted to get rid of the whole Department of Agriculture. We saw it in funding cuts to the Jersey Fresh program," he said. "A change is needed."
   The governor's spokesman, Michael Drewniak, said Christie understood the challenges facing the state's 10,000 farmers. "Farming is a business, and what we have is a pro-business governor," he said.
   
   The 20-page transition report was the talk of the state Board of Agriculture's meeting last week in Trenton and is expected to be the buzz of the annual state Agricultural Convention next week in East Brunswick, N.J.
   In addition to the Jersey Fresh recommendations, it calls for dedicated funding for farmland preservation and a "more balanced regulatory climate" to aid the state's cranberry industry.
   The report also recommends improved promotion of wineries, and changes to permit solar, wind, or biomass energy sources on preserved farms.
   The Christie administration has "an appreciation for the private sector . . . and what it means to the success of New Jersey," said Republican Sen. Joseph Kyrillos Jr., who represents parts of Monmouth and Middlesex Counties and has served on the economic growth committee.
   "That mind-set includes agriculture. This is about jobs, economic development, revenue to the treasury, open space, the culture of New Jersey, and the quality of life," he said.
   
   Parts of the report are vague, said Roger Kumpel, president of the state Board of Agriculture. "We're not sure how the changes will be implemented," he said, "but I think we have the best opportunity we've had in years" to help farmers.
   The report's recommendations are "all the things we've been looking for to strengthen marketing and make agriculture a more viable industry in the state," said Richard Nieuwenhuis, president of the 13,000-member New Jersey Farm Bureau, which represents farmers and support industries.
   Even Democratic Assemblyman Nelson Albano, chairman of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee for the last four years, praised the Christie strategy.
   "Somebody finally gets it," said Albano, whose district takes in Cape May County and parts of Cumberland and Atlantic Counties.
3. • CommentAuthorsussexadmin
   • CommentTimeFeb 25th 2010

    
   "There is so much return on the state investment in agriculture and Jersey Fresh. We tried to convince Gov. Corzine and the Legislature," he said. "Agriculture used to be a thriving industry. It still is, but it's been dying off."
   
   The report sharply criticized the Corzine administration, which it called "indifferent and even hostile" to the Department of Agriculture.
   
   The previous administration suggested that the department's functions could be absorbed by the health and environmental-protection departments, but the proposal failed.
   
   During fiscal 2009, state support for agriculture "was reduced by 13 percent at a time when the average budget reduction across all state departments was 6 percent," the report said.
   
   A key recommendation in the report, say farmers, is beefing up the Jersey Fresh marketing campaign, which had a budget of up to $1.6 million in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
   
   Now the budget "is down to $150,000," Kumpel said. "It's less and less" each year.
   
   Albano said he had pushed the program with the Corzine administration because it had been so effective. According to the Department of Agriculture, each dollar spent on Jersey Fresh promotion resulted in $54.49 of increased economic output in the state, the transition team report said.
   
   "In 2003, the $1.16 million spent on the Jersey Fresh program increased fruit and vegetable cash receipts by $36.6 million and created an additional $26.6 million in economic activity within agricultural support industries," the report added.
   
   The report also cited "the overburdening impact" of the state Department of Environmental Protection on agriculture, which it said threatened "the very economy viability of the industry." It called for "a rational approach to environmental regulations based on scientific expertise."
   
   "We need to have a balance between the environmental and agricultural communities so we can all survive," the Board of Agriculture's Kumpel said. "If we can't produce goods and make money, we're out of business."
   
   Agriculture is "a viable economic force in the state," the Farm Bureau's Nieuwenhuis added. "We're looking for a completely different focus on agriculture and economic development in the state, and we've found a far more progressive feeling from the Christie administration."
   
   reposted from Philly.com local news article 2.5.10