Farmers set to fight Ag closing
Out of the hundreds of New Jersey farmers and their supporters who plan to attend a Statehouse rally Tuesday morning in Trenton, some participants may straddle or lead horses. Others, perhaps clad in coveralls and flannel shirts, will perch atop tractors and other heavy machinery as they rumble and clomp down West State Street.
All will have the same objective: to draw attention to an ongoing campaign to reverse, or at least amend, Gov. Jon S. Corzine's budget proposal that includes the elimination of the Department of Agriculture along with two other state units, the Department of Personnel and the Commerce, Economic Growth & Tourism Commission. The rally will likely represent the farming set's loudest and most visible offensive since Corzine's unveiled his $33 million spending plan last month.
But organizers say it won't be their last.
In a discussion with Courier News editors last week, representatives of the New Jersey Farm Bureau described their fight to save the agriculture department, as well as the cabinet-level post of agriculture secretary, a more-than-century-old position that supporters say lends national prestige and a unified voice to the state's farming community.
The Department of Agriculture oversees various aspects of food safety and nutrition programs, farmland preservation, pest control, disease monitoring, emergency food distribution and commodity promotion such as the popular Jersey Fresh campaign, among other duties.
"We are the Garden State," said Peter J. Furey, executive director of the Farm Bureau, a nonprofit organization with 15,000 members. "Why eliminate that rich heritage and diversity?"
Besides dissolving the department, the Corzine plan would slash state spending on remaining agriculture services while department functions would be absorbed by other regulatory agencies, such as the state Department of Environmental Protection or the state Department of Health and Senior Services. Administration officials maintain the cuts would save millions of dollars in administrative costs and advance $2.7 billion worth of reductions to balance the state budget.
"There will continue to be advocates for the agricultural industry and there will continue to be programs and individuals on the state level who will advocate for New Jersey farmers," said Jim Gardner, a Corzine spokesman. "Certainly, in this budget, the governor was faced with making some very difficult decisions in terms of securing savings wherever possible. In this particular case, he did so with the elimination of three state departments that have programs in place that can be integrated into existing state agencies."
