Farmland owners are reminded that their farmland assessment applications (FA-1) are due not later than August 1. Submitting an application late is grounds for denial. Recent changes to the law are in effect for this year. Information about farmland assessment can be found on the…
The delegates to the 100th State Agricultural Convention considered nearly 40 resolutions covering various policy issues. Resolution titles are listed below. (A new, separate resolution dealing with he issue of Soil Disturbance on Preserved Farms was also added.) Information on the content of the resolutions can…
The SADC recently heard a staff presentation about the development of a draft rule to define and limit soil disturbance on preserved farmland. This draft rule is the result of several years of work by a soil-disturbance sub-committee. The SADC staff believes a rule is…
A bill to ban the use of gestation crates in New Jersey is awaiting action by the Governor. Governor Christie vetoed similar legislation during the last legislative session. The Star Ledger published an editorial recently, pushing for the Governor to reverse himself and sign this…
With only 10 days left in the campaign to pass Question #2 for farmland and open space funding, the push is on! Want to help get the word out? Click on the link below for a full-size version of Keep It Green’s flyer that advocates…
The New Jersey Legislature commemorated the 150th anniversary of Rutgers’ designation as the land-grant institution for the state of New Jersey by passing a joint resolution in the Senate on Sept. 22. In 1862, Congress passed the Land-Grant College Act, a landmark statute also known…
That fatal attack by a black bear in Passaic County should come as a surprise to no one. Thanks to pressure from the anti-hunting crowd, New Jersey’s bear population has grown far beyond the capacity of our limited forests to support it. Look at a…
Those who only pass through New Jersey may wonder why we residents would ever call it The Garden State. Our daughter learned this while introducing herself at a gathering of fellow freshmen at college; when she said she was from New Jersey, a snide questioner…
New Jersey voters should support a constitutional amendment that would allocate millions of dollars in corporate taxes for preserving open space, a bipartisan coalition pushing the plan said today. The coalition kicked off its “Yes on 2” campaign at the Greater Newark Conservancy’s Prudential Outdoor…
By Ryck Suydam The Star-Ledger’s editorial (“The Highlands Act at risk,” Aug. 10) and op-ed from the Highlands Coalition (“A decade later, Highlands Act still a good deal,” Aug. 10) ring hollow to us as farmers and local economic stakeholders in the region. Rather than…
