Garden State Times

TRENTON, N.J. – The Assembly Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia’s bill funding preservation efforts at five farms in northwestern New Jersey.

The bill (A3698) reallocates $1.723 million from corporate tax revenue and a 2009 farmland preservation fund to the State Agriculture Development Committee, which oversees the state’s Farmland Preservation Program. The committee will use the money for grants to help farmers pay for approved preservation projects.

"Preserving farmland throughout New Jersey, and especially in the northwestern part of the state, ensures that generations of residents will know where their food comes from, how livestock is cared for, and the permanent value of our agricultural communities. We have to help farmers if we want to live up to our Garden State slogan and preserve a way of life that is cherished in New Jersey," said Fantasia (R-Sussex). "I know these farms will put the funds to good use and they deserve this support."

The grants will go toward preservation efforts at two farms in Stillwater and Wantage townships in Sussex County, two farms in Delaware and Union townships in Hunterdon County, and a farm in Blairstown Township in Warren County.