WHEREAS, New Jersey agriculture is heavily concentrated in the production of fruit and vegetable crops meant for fresh-market sale, as well as nursery, greenhouse and floriculture stock; and

WHEREAS, these sectors, as well as others, including equine and agri-tourism, are labor-intensive operations, as the products being produced or experiences being offered rely upon aesthetic appeal to the consumer as much as, or more than, any other attribute; and

WHEREAS, this need for excellent physical appearance requires the hand-picking and/or hand-tending of these agricultural products and experiences; and

WHEREAS, most New Jersey farms are family-owned operations, in which there are not enough family members to provide all the needed labor; and

WHEREAS, this creates the need for the hiring of outside labor, much of which requires some knowledge and experience in working on a farm; and

WHEREAS, farm labor wages in New Jersey often already exceed the minimum wage due to competition for that labor from other industries, such as construction, landscaping and food-service; and

WHEREAS, the New Jersey Legislature passed bills (A-2162/S-3) that would increase New Jersey's minimum wage from the current $7.25 per hour to $8.25 per hour, plus an annual increase tied to the Consumer Price Index, and these bills were conditionally vetoed by the Governor, who substituted an alternative increase in the minimum wage from that which passed the Legislature;.and

WHEREAS, legislative leaders chose not to adopt the Governor's alternative increase and instead voted to include a constitutional question on the November 2013 ballot, calling for the minimum wage increase to $8.25 per hour plus the annual increase tied to the Consumer Price Index, and the voters approved that measure, making the new state minimum wage effective as of January 1, 2014; and

WHEREAS, an increase in the minimum wage, such as that approved by the voters in November 2013, will result in a "ratchet effect" of all other higher levels of pay on a given farm in order to maintain incentives to "move up" in that farm's labor structure; and

WHEREAS, many produce-farm operators pay a "piece-rate," in which workers are paid based on the amount of fruits or vegetables they pick and, during peak harvest, good workers can make significantly more than the minimum wage under this piece-rate system; but by contrast, the farm operator must pay at least the minimum wage for those workers who pick less, or during times when there are not enough crops to be picked, to have the piece-rate wage be at least equal to the minimum wage; and

WHEREAS, the $8.25 minimum wage is $1.00 more than the federal minimum wage ($7.25 per hour) paid by businesses in other states that have not adopted minimum wages higher than the federal minimum; and

WHEREAS, this juxtaposition of higher labor costs in New Jersey with lower production costs for produce coming from surrounding states puts New Jersey agriculture at a competitive disadvantage with surrounding states whose farmers are paying a lower minimum wage, since those out-of-state farmers will be able to undercut New Jersey farmers on prices for their similar products; and

WHEREAS, New Jersey farmers who hire outside labor also frequently provide those employees with lodging, meals and the costs of traveling to New Jersey from other parts of the United States or from foreign countries, but do not currently receive, under state laws, any consideration of those labor-connected cost factors in determining whether agricultural operators must pay the state-mandated minimum wage.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the delegates to the 99th State Agricultural Convention, assembled in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on February 5-6, 2014, urge the Legislature to introduce and approve, and the Governor to sign, legislation that would establish either a separate agricultural minimum wage or, in the alternative, tax credits that recognize the unique contributions to employee compensation made by agricultural operators, including but not limited to the provision of housing, meals and the cost of transportation to bring labor to the farm.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the State Board of Agriculture and the Secretary of Agriculture should work in conjunction with the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development to develop support within the Administration for a separate agricultural minimum wage or, in the alternative, an "agricultural training wage" to be paid to employees who have not worked on that particular farm before and who must be trained in the methods of that farm.