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Right to Farm Program

WHEREAS, the Right to Farm Act provides eligible, responsible farmers with protection from restrictive local government ordinances, as well as public and private nuisance actions, and provides increased protection to those farmers who operate in accordance with agricultural management practices (AMPs) that have been adopted by the State Agriculture Development Committee (SADC); and

WHEREAS, the SADC in August 2011 published an adopted AMP for solar energy generation, developed in cooperation with an interagency task force and farmer and industry representatives, and continues to work in a similar manner to develop an AMP for wind energy generation; and

WHEREAS, the SADC, working with a group that included farmers and representatives from New Jersey Farm Bureau, Rutgers University, county agriculture development boards and the planning community, developed an AMP regarding On-Farm Direct Marketing facilities, activities and events; and

WHEREAS, SADC proposed the AMP as a formal rule and was expected to consider the AMP for adoption in January 2014 and, if approved, the AMP would become effective upon publication in the New Jersey register in March or April 2014; and

WHEREAS, that AMP does not specifically address certain activities, known as “life-celebratory events,” such as weddings, and that such events can be an important tool in marketing and promoting the agricultural output of the farm and thus should be eligible, at some level, for Right to Farm protection; and

WHEREAS, there exists the possibility that too many life-celebratory events on a given farm could reach a threshold where their main objective is not the marketing and promotion of the farm’s agricultural output, and thus would not be eligible for Right to Farm protection;; and

WHEREAS, the Right to Farm Act gives primary jurisdiction in resolving complaints against agricultural operations to county agriculture development boards (CADBs) and ultimately to the SADC if the decisions of the county boards are appealed, and the SADC offers a voluntary Agricultural Mediation Program as an alternative to that formal process, since mediation can help disputing parties quickly resolve their problems, thereby saving all parties both time and costly legal fees; and

WHEREAS, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Mediation Program informed the SADC that its grant funding for state agricultural mediation programs may be used only to support conflict resolution of disputes involving USDA agencies and agricultural credit matters; and

WHEREAS, the agricultural community continues to view Right to Farm as critically important, with Right to Farm consistently ranked first among the New Jersey Farm Bureau’s annual ranking of its top 10 policy issues; and

WHEREAS, a bill (S-2675) was introduced in April 2013 which would allow farmers to recover reasonable costs and attorney fees incurred in defense of bad-faith complaints against commercial agricultural operations.

WHEREAS, experience shows that regular notice to all landowners that agriculture is a publicly endorsed land use greatly enhances the education of newcomers and longtime residents alike about the protections of the Right to Farm Act and can help municipalities head off conflicts between farmers and other residents before they become confrontational.

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, strongly support New Jersey’s Right to Farm Act to continue to provide responsible farmers with critical protection against public and private nuisance actions and against municipal regulations that constrain farming.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we urge the SADC to continue developing, prioritizing and adopting AMPs that establish standards for Right-to-Farm protection for certain agricultural practices, in conjunction with the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station and Rutgers University and with direct farmer input.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we support the SADC’s continuing efforts to adopt an AMP for On Farm Direct Marketing, and plans to continue outreach and education efforts; amend the program’s regulations to make them more consistent with statutory processes, including strengthening the rules to reflect the legislative intent; reduce unnecessary back-and-forth between the SADC and county agriculture development boards (CADBs); encourage mediation before Right-to-Farm complaints are filed; and the continued development of additional AMPs.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we urge the SADC to additionally address certain activities, known as “life-celebratory events,” such as weddings, for their potential to be deemed as eligible, at some level, for Right to Farm Protection, provided the main objective is the marketing and promotion of the farm’s agricultural output.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that, in the absence of SADC-adopted AMPs, we support the County Agriculture Development Boards’ continued development and recommendation of site-specific agricultural management practices, which provide a farmer with assurance that his or her specific operation or practices conform to generally accepted agricultural management practices.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we call on the SADC to continue its efforts to provide the maximum protections under the Right to Farm Act.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we call upon the County Agriculture Development Boards to continue education efforts with the general public, farmers and municipal, county and judicial officials with respect to the protections afforded commercial farm operators under the Right to Farm Act, including the use of regular notice via mail to all landowners that agriculture is a publicly endorsed land use.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we call upon the SADC to continue to take the necessary steps to ensure that owners of deed-restricted farms enjoy the same flexibility in adapting their agricultural operations to achieve economic viability as do owners of non-deed-restricted farms under the Right to Farm Act, specifically in the areas of marketing and agritourism.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we urge the passage of legislation to discourage repeated harassment suits against farmers, including requiring complainants to pay all reasonable legal fees and associated costs the farmer may incur to defend against complaints where the farmer is determined to be operating in compliance with all appropriate AMPs or is otherwise entitled to right-to-farm protection.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we call upon the Governor and Legislature to appropriate a minimum of $300,000 in the FY2015 state budget for the SADC and counties to adequately administer the Act.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we call on the SADC and the New .Jersey Department of Agriculture to work with the USDA Secretary of Agriculture to address federal Agricultural Mediation Program grant funding issues and enable the New Jersey Agricultural Mediation Program to continue to use federal funding to support mediation and conflict resolution efforts for right-to-farm purposes.