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Beginning with the inception of the Farmland Assessment Act of 1964, many positive actions have been taken to encourage the continuation of the agricultural industry in New Jersey. Among these are the Right to Farm Act that grants protection from nuisance complaints and unnecessarily restrictive municipal regulations for farmers engaging in approved agricultural management practices; the Farmland Preservation Program, through which farmers may sell their development rights while maintaining ownership of their land; the priority use of water during droughts; and State and federal grants for conservation practices. Together, these measures and other, similar programs form a supportive regulatory and programmatic framework that helps to keep New Jersey’s agricultural industry viable.

However, agricultural assistance programs and initiatives can only do so much in a home rule state when development pressures mount, as is the case today in New Jersey. As a result, many municipalities have begun “preserving” land through municipal downzoning in an attempt to stop sprawl and slow population growth. State and federal agencies have also begun to recognize the rapid consumption of open space and have instituted more stringent regulatory actions to protect the environment.

While possibly well-intentioned, these actions nonetheless have a direct, negative impact on the retention of farms and farmers by severely reducing land values and farmland landowner equity. Long-term land value appreciation is recognized by the Agricultural Smart Growth Plan for New Jersey as a factor in the continued viability of New Jersey farms.

Although the Farmland Preservation Program has been funded to enable the preservation of more farmland now than ever before, with a goal of 20,000 acres per year, the continuation of the counter-productive zoning and regulatory actions threaten to drive all but special niche, hobby, and subsistence farmers out of the business of farming. An aggressive public information effort is critical to educating decision-makers at all levels of government about the negative impacts of downzoning, and the need to consider agricultural operational requirements in the development of environmental regulations.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the delegates to the 89th State Agricultural Convention, assembled in Long Branch, New Jersey on February 3, 2004, hereby recognize that the protection of farmer landowner equity is as critical to the preservation of agriculture in New Jersey as the preservation of the land base, and that the cost of stopping sprawl, preserving open space, and protecting the environment must be shared by all those who benefit, not placed primarily upon those who wish to keep their land in agriculture or open space.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we believe the resolution of the farmland equity issue is of the highest priority, and we request the State Board of Agriculture to take the lead in establishing a public information and education program to reach out to decision-makers and the general public to help inform them of the counter-productive results of downzoning. The public outreach committee shall develop a plan of action that actively involves County Boards of Agriculture and Agriculture Development Boards. They shall report back to the State Board of Agriculture quarterly with progress updates and prepare a final report for the 2005 Agricultural Convention.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we call upon local farmers with the support of the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, County Agriculture Development Boards and County Boards of Agriculture to participate actively in all public forums that address land development so that message of the importance of equity is heard by decision makers, elected officials, and the public.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we request the Governor, the Department of Agriculture, the Legislature, and all county and municipal governments to take the next step in farmland preservation by taking immediate action to address the protection of agricultural viability through careful, long-range planning efforts that do not rely on downzoning or other forms of land use regulation that negatively affect land values.