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New Jersey Farm Bureau News

Ag Matters Online

WEST MILFORD – Current evidence suggests a black bear killed a hiker in Apshawa Preserve on Sunday. If that is the case, the incident would mark the only fatal bear attack ever recorded in New Jersey.

Police said there was evidence that Edison resident Darsh Patel, 22, had been attacked by a bear when his body was found a few hours after he had been separated from his hiking companions following a bear encounter.

Click here to read the full story.

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 Learning Center, arguing that the amendment would create a stable source of funding for the open space program.

Click here to read the complete story from nj.com

New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas Fisher recently marked the start of the state’s fall agritourism season while visiting a sunflower maze in Sussex County.

The weeks after Labor Day are a “wonderful time to visit Garden State farms,” he said during the event.

But not so much in South Jersey.

Officials with the New Jersey Farm Bureau say that while agritourism — a mix of everything from pick-your-own farms to cider-pressing events to old-fashioned hayrides — is booming in the northern and central parts of the state, it is lagging in South Jersey.

Click here to read the complete story from the Press of Atlantic City.

It’s been a bountiful harvest this summer, with farmers markets and supermarkets showing their colors in the emerald green of broccoli and kale, the scarlet of Jersey tomatoes and the deep purple of young eggplant.

Now a series of bills that Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno put her signature to on Aug. 25 helps ensure that New Jersey’s schoolchildren reap the benefits of the season’s harvest.

Click here for the rest of this Trenton Times Editorial.

SUSSEX BOROUGH — As the 21-year-old son of a dairy farmer, Charles Kuperus took not one but two leaps of faith in 1979.

That was the year he married his high school sweetheart, Marge, and started his horticultural business.

“I started it from scratch, literally,” he said. “There was nothing there, and there was a little bit of ‘I don’t know if this is going to work.'”

Walking through row upon row of red dahlias at his farm — Kuperus Farmside Gardens and Florist — recently, Kuperus couldn’t help but take stock of how his faith has paid off over the last 35 years.

Click here to read the rest of the story from the New Jersey Herald.

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 paint those concerned about the Highlands program as good guys vs. bad guys, we see criticism of the regulatory program in the region in a different light.

Click here to read the entire Guest Editorial.

New Jersey Farm Bureau will host an informational meeting regarding Farmland Assessment, and the upcoming changes to this law. (Changes will take effect in 2015.)

The meeting will be held Monday, September 29, 7:00 – 8:30PM at the Hunterdon County Route 12 Complex, Building #1, Assembly Space, 314 Route 12, Flemington, NJ 08822. Click here for a map.

Anyone who currently receives farmland assessment should consider attending. SMALL FARM OWNERS PLEASE NOTE: Parcels of 7 acres or less will have additional requirements to meet the new farmland assessment criteria.

The meeting is FREE to all paid NJFB members. There will be a $20 fee for non-members.

Please register by September 24 – Space is limited! Call the Farm Bureau office at 609-393-7163.

NOTE: This is the first in a series of informational meetings NJFB will host on this subject. Other dates and locations will be announced soon.

jay lenoAcclaimed late night TV host Jay Leno will give the closing session keynote address at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 96th Annual Convention and IDEAg Trade Show in San Diego on Jan. 12, 2015.

Leno, an admired stand-up comedian, is also a best-selling children’s book author, TV and movie voice-over artist, pioneering car builder and mechanic, and philanthropist. He has been widely characterized as “the hardest-working man in show business.”

“We are excited to have Jay Leno as one of our keynote speakers,” said AFBF President Bob Stallman. “We will be considering some very important policy issues during our time in San Diego, so it will be nice to take a break from the business at hand and share a lighter moment with Jay Leno.”

Leno’s late night television ratings domination has included hosting more than two decades of “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” during which the show was a quarterly ratings winner for 19 consecutive years. While he was host, the show was honored by the Television Academy with an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy, Variety or Music Series. “The Tonight Show” has also been honored as Favorite Late Night Show in the annual TV Guide Awards as determined by voting viewers.

Any one planning to attend, or having any questions about the convention should contact Liz Thompson in our office.