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A sufficient land base must exist for agriculture to remain viable in New Jersey. Of the approximately 1.7 million acres of remaining undeveloped or unpreserved open space in New Jersey, 850,000 acres are actively devoted to agricultural production. Therefore, New Jersey’s farmland is in high demand by developers and others with non-agricultural interests. The Department has set forth in its Strategic Plan a goal of preserving 20,000 acres of farmland per year.

To assist in reaching the 20,000-acre goal, the State Agricultural Development Committee has developed the Strategic Targeting Project. The project encourages county agriculture development boards and county planning boards to adopt comprehensive farmland preservation plans that identify and inventory existing farmland, coordinate efforts to sustain the agricultural community within municipal and regional master plans, and generally promote the expansion of agriculture as an industry that is key to their region and New Jersey’s economy.

Preservation of land is only one component of preserving New Jersey’s farmers and agricultural industry. The Department’s approach to smart growth coordinates farmland preservation efforts with economic development strategies at the county and municipal levels. The Department’s Agricultural Smart Growth Plan includes comprehensive proactive strategies that link the land, products, processing and workforce with marketing opportunities. The plan encourages proven traditional measures as well as innovative approaches, such as alternative wastewater treatment systems to balance the need for both preservation and growth. The plan also opposes large lot zoning and downzoning, two practices that permanently remove the land from agricultural production at an accelerated rate, undermine preservation programs, and erode a farmer’s equity. The maintenance of equity is a key concern for farmers, who use their land’s value as collateral for operating and production loans.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the delegates of the 89th State Agricultural Convention assembled in Long Branch, New Jersey on February 3, 2004 endorse the New Jersey Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Smart Growth Plan and its five-part approach to land use and conservation, balanced with economic development initiatives.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Department of Agriculture take the lead in supporting and advancing equitable and feasible density-transfer methods, such as clustering, to coordinate preservation planning in conjunction with growth planning. The Department should also support and advance the use of current and new wastewater technologies to allow for the implementation of sound, innovative planning techniques.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, we are opposed to downzoning or large-lot zoning or zoning that has the practical effect of large lot zoning, because it fractures and consumes farmland, promotes land-consumptive sprawl, and adversely affects landowner equity. These zoning practices are counter productive to the principles of smart growth and should be discouraged by the Office of Smart Growth.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we encourage participation of the entire agricultural community in the smart growth planning process and the upcoming cross-acceptance process. We direct the Department of Agriculture to work with Rutgers University, Farm Bureau, the County Boards of Agriculture, the County Agriculture Development Boards, commodity groups, community leaders and other interested partners in the implementation of the Department’s Agricultural Smart Growth Plan.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we urge the Smart Growth Policy Council and the State Planning Commission to integrate the Department’s Agricultural Smart Growth Plan into the State Comprehensive Smart Growth Plan to ensure a balanced approach that recognizes the importance of agriculture in New Jersey.