Bill Text: NJ S2653 | 2022-2023 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes "New Farmers Improvement Grant Program" to provide matching grants for farm improvements to beginning farmers.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-05-16 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Economic Growth Committee [S2653 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2022-S2653-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator EDWARD DURR
District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes "New Farmers Improvement Grant Program" to provide matching grants for farm improvements to beginning farmers.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning grants to beginning farmers for farm improvements and supplementing Title 4 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in this act:
"Beginning farmer" means a person who desires to engage in farming and has never farmed before, who has engaged in farming in the State for 10 years or less as of the effective date of this act, or who qualifies as a first-time farmer pursuant to 26 U.S.C. s.147(c)(2).
"Department" means the Department of Agriculture.
"Farming" means the cultivation of land for the production of agricultural crops, the raising of poultry, the production of eggs, the production of milk, the production of fruit or other horticultural crops, grazing, the production of livestock, aquaculture, hydroponics, the production of forest products, or other activities designated by the department pursuant to rules and regulations.
2. a. There is established in the Department of Agriculture the "New Farmers Improvement Grant Program," to provide matching grants for farm improvements to beginning farmers investing in diversification of their farming operations and innovations for the sustainability of those operations. The department shall award grants of between $15,000 and $50,000, for up to 50 percent of total project costs. The department shall award matching grants to eligible farmers only for projects that:
(1) expand or diversify agricultural or horticultural production on the farm or extend its growing or production season;
(2) implement innovative agricultural or horticultural techniques that increase the use of sustainable practices such as organic farming, food safety, reduction of farm waste, or water conservation; or
(3) create or expand partnerships with other farms, regional food hubs, or agriculture-dependent institutions and entities to improve the processing, selling, and distributing of agricultural or horticultural products.
b. Eligible costs to be funded by a matching grant under the program shall include the purchase of new or used machinery, equipment, or supplies, or the construction of buildings and physical structures to be used exclusively for agricultural or horticultural purposes, and any other costs established as eligible costs pursuant to rules and regulations adopted pursuant to subsection e. of this section.
c. A farmer shall be eligible for a matching grant, and may apply in the form and manner prescribed by the department, if:
(1) the farmer is 18 years of age or older and is a beginning farmer;
(2) the beginning farmer materially and substantially participates in day-to-day production of agricultural or horticultural products raised on the farm, as determined by the department;
(3) the farm is 150 acres or less and located wholly within the State; and
(4) the farming operation has a minimum of $10,000 in gross sales in the preceding calendar year from agricultural or horticultural products grown or derived from the applicant's farm operation as reflected in either personal or business federal tax return forms.
d. The Department of Agriculture shall request annually as part of its annual budget proposal a minimum of $100,000 to fund the grants authorized pursuant to this section. The department shall also pursue and develop, with the Department of Environmental Protection, the United States Department of Agriculture, and any other applicable State or federal agency, any available federal, State, local, and private funding for the grants authorized pursuant to this section.
e. The Department of Agriculture shall adopt, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), rules and regulations necessary to implement this act, including, but not limited to, establishing other costs as eligible costs in addition to those established in section b. of this section and the manner in which a beginning farmer shall provide the required 50 percent match for a grant.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes in the Department of Agriculture the "New Farmers Improvement Grant Program," to provide matching grants for farm improvements to beginning farmers investing in diversification of their farming operations and innovations for the sustainability of those operations. The bill defines "beginning farmer" as a person who desires to engage in farming and has never farmed before, who has engaged in farming in the State for 10 years or less as of the effective date of the bill, or who qualifies as a first time farmer pursuant to federal law at 26 U.S.C. s.147(c)(2).
To date, the State of New Jersey has spent $1.148 billion to preserve farmland in the Garden State. New Jersey cannot rely only on the success of land preservation to preserve farming. The State must take further action to preserve its farmers as well. 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. The State-wide average age has increased more drastically at 2.72 percent annually since 2002, on average.
