Governor proposes elimination of N.J. ag department

New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine’s state budget plan includes eliminating the department of agriculture and assigning some of the department’s functions to other state agencies including the Department of Health and the Department of Environmental Protection.

New Jersey Nursery & Landscape Association (NJNLA) and the New Jersey Farm Bureau are speaking out against the proposal. Both groups are asking members to urge legislators not to approve the measure and to keep the department in tact. The New Jersey Farm Bureau estimates the savings from eliminating the department would total only $300,000 to $400,000, according to Richard Nieuwenhuis, farm bureau president.

“Our figures are based on a state-approved report that identified 52 percent of the department’s employees as ‘essential,’” he said.

Some of the major divisions within the department include: Division of Plant Industry; Division of Marketing and Development; Division of Ag and Natural Resources; and the State Agricultural Development Committee.

The department’s Division of Plant Industry, with the help of the USDA, has helped fight the Asian longhorn beetle and the gypsy moth throughout the state, said Carl Nordstrom, executive director of NJNLA.

“We need to retain the Department of Agriculture to market, advocate and provide essential services to our industry,” Nordstrom said. “One of the major impacts would be to our certification program. If there’s a destruction in the inspection services, it would trickle down to certification. About 55 percent to 65 percent of the plant material grown in New Jersey is shipped out of state, which requires certification.”

Alaska and Rhode Island are the only two states without a department of agriculture, Nieuwenhuis said.

“Connecticut eliminated its state agriculture department in 2004, but reinstated it two years later because of all the problems that occurred with reassigning department responsibilities,” Nieuwenhuis said.

The agriculture department receives $9.2 million annually for its general salaries and operations, which represents about 2.8 percent of the state’s $33 billion budget, Nordstrom said.

The state’s constitution requires a balanced budget by July 1. A series of public hearings and budget hearings will continue until the summer deadline.

The governor also is calling for the elimination of the departments of commerce and personnel.

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For more: NJNLA, (609) 291-7070; www.njnla.org. New Jersey Farm Bureau, (609) 393-7163; www.njfb.org.

April 2008