Bill > S724

Introduced Session

This bill would authorize county agriculture development boards (CADBs) to establish mentoring programs for beginning farmers and authorize counties and CADBs to resell preserved farmland to beginning farmers at a price below what the county paid for the land. The bill would expand the powers of CADBs by authorizing them to establish beginning farmer mentoring programs by which experienced farmers provide guidance, advice, and other appropriate assistance to beginning farmers. In addition, the bill would specify that a county or CADB may resell or lease preserved farmland, acquired in fee simple by a county, to a beginning farmer, as defined in the bill, for an amount less than that originally paid by the county or CADB, as applicable. Under the bill, the land would be subject to agricultural deed restrictions as required by current law. However, the bill provides that for any sale or lease of land for farmland preservation purposes to a beginning farmer pursuant to the bill, the State's pro rata share of the proceeds may be reduced to reflect the reduction in price paid by the beginning farmer. Under current law, the State Agriculture Development Committee (SADC) provides grants to counties to pay up to 80 percent of the cost of acquisition of fee simple titles to farmland from willing sellers for farmland preservation purposes. Current law, and SADC rules and regulations, require that such land be offered for resale or lease with agricultural deed restrictions and that the proceeds received be dedicated for farmland preservation purposes, with the SADC's pro rate share of the proceeds deposited into the applicable farmland preservation fund. Current funding for farmland preservation is provided from constitutionally dedicated corporation business tax (CBT) revenues pursuant to Article VIII, Section II, paragraph 6 of the State Constitution, approved by the voters of the State in November 2014. The "Preserve New Jersey Act," P.L.2016, c.12 (C.13:8C-43 et seq.), implements the constitutional dedication of CBT revenues for open space, farmland, and historic preservation. The "Preserve New Jersey Farmland Preservation Fund" was established pursuant to section 8 of the "Preserve New Jersey Act." New Jersey has long committed to preserving farmland, however New Jersey cannot rest on the success of land preservation. The State needs to do much more to preserve farming and take further action to preserve its farmers as well. This bill is intended to provide an incentive for, and encouragement to, people who take up the vital and historic role of farmer. Currently, the average age of a farmer in the United States is 57.5 years. The national average age has increased by 1.6 percent annually since 1994, on average, according to the 2017 Census of Agriculture conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture. The average age of a New Jersey farmer is 59.7 years, according to the same report.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D)*,  Douglas Steinhardt (R)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Economic Growth Committee (on 01/09/2024)

Official Document