Hot News

4.08.2008

By KEVIN GEORGE
Editor

TRENTON, N.J. — An estimated 1,000 people and around 100 pieces of farming equipment made a special trip to this state capital on April 1 to let Gov. Jon S. Corzine know just how foolish they felt his intention is to disband the New Jersey Department of Agriculture.
“This is about the mid-point of our campaign,” said New Jersey Farm Bureau Executive Director Peter Furey of the organization’s planned efforts to save the NJDA. “We were absolutely thrilled to see the genuine display of sentiment here. I can’t tell you the feeling that I had to see all these tractors come down (West) State Street.
“I’ve worked here on State Street every single day since 1982, and to see our industry put on the kind of demonstration was really fantastic.”
Furey added the turnout shouldn’t have been too surprising, despite the stereotype of the quiet farmer.
“I think farmers tolerate a lot of adversity in the normal course of business, and they do keep to themselves,” he said. “But you can tell when they’re ticked off, and this one really got to them and they rallied together in a very genuine display of civil protest.”
Corzine announced during his state budget address on Feb. 26 that he intended to eliminate the NJDA and consolidate its duties to surviving state agencies. A majority number of those would fall under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey Department of Environment Protection, which already has contentious relationship with the state farmers.
Assemblywoman Marcia A. Karrow, R-Dist. 23, who was one of about 20 speakers to address the crowd, said later in the week that she had seen some positive movement two days after the rally.
She said acting State Treasurer David Rousseau still is unable to build a valid argument on how much the state can potentially save by cutting the NJDA — especially after figuring in the cost of reassigning its functions to other departments.
Being told Corzine was inside the Statehouse Annex Building where the crowd congregated to hear nearly 20 speakers explain how vital of a role the department plays to the state with responsibilities. They were encouraged to shout and chant loudly to make sure Corzine would be able to hear them inside.
Each of the speakers — ranging from legislators to private farm owners to FFA representative — spoke passionately about the agricultural industry and the worth the NJDA adds to it.
“This whole event required no arm twisting,” Furey said. “It was a natural expression of opinion as you could imagine.”
Later in the day, Corzine issued a statement regarding the rally.
“I understand that farmers are angry. I understand, too, that some may choose only to see irony in my proposal to cut the Department of Agriculture in the ‘Garden State,’” Corzine said, according to the release. “That said, the taxpayers of New Jersey are deeply concerned with the cost of government and demand that we set our priorities to deliver services efficiently.
“These budget cuts, painful as they may be for all of us, are what the times demand. ... . I laid out my priorities in my budget address — education, public safety and protecting the most vulnerable.”
Many of the protesters agreed there are duties the department is responsible that wouldn’t apply to other government agencies if a redistribution were to take place
Karrow said the NJDEP would pick up most of the vacated duties the NJDA now is responsible for, adding “and that’s the worst thing (Corzine) could do.”
She said the NJDEP would be better served without the added workload.
“They don’t want it,” she said on April 4. “The DEP has their hands full already, and they don’t want it either. The DEP is regulatory by nature, and the NJDA is an economic engine. It’s not the same thing.”
Despite some legislators “Democrats and Republicans and from within the city,” beginning to realize the NJDA’s worth, Corzine is holding firm in his wish.
“Consolidating the functions of the Department of Agriculture into other government agencies is not an effort to short-change the economic and cultural importance of farms to this great state,” he said in the statement. “It is part of an across-the-board effort by the state to do more with less. The critical functions of the department will remain, and the state will continue as a staunch advocate for farms and agri-business. Regardless of where the phone rings, the state will be there to assist in the same ways it does now.
Many demonstrators noted federal funds are available only through each respective state’s department of agriculture, but Corzine said he will try to find models from the only two states without such departments.
“We (do not) intend to jeopardize federal funding for agriculture. We are looking to other states without separate agriculture departments “Rhode Island and Alaska — that continue to receive federal dollars in order to ensure that we are not losing federal money as we seek to cut state costs.”
Karrow noted neither of those states have ag industries nearly the same scale as New Jersey’s.