Garden State Times

New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Ed Wengryn, along with state and local officials, marked National Agriculture Day with a visit to Hionis Greenhouses in Hunterdon County. This day, observed on March 18, emphasizes the significance of agriculture and farmers to New Jersey and the nation. The state's agricultural industry generates nearly $1.5 billion annually from products sold at the gate.

“The diversity of New Jersey’s agriculture makes it one of the truly unique states in the country,” said Secretary Wengryn. He highlighted various agricultural activities in the state, including growing potted flowers and plants, producing Jersey Fresh fruits and vegetables, raising livestock, creating wines from Jersey grapes, and producing aquaculture and seafood products. Wengryn stressed the importance of recognizing those involved in the industry.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), New Jersey's largest agricultural sector is the nursery/greenhouse/sod industry, generating over $725 million in annual sales. The state ranks fourth nationally in floriculture sales and seventh in overall horticulture sales.

Hionis Greenhouses celebrated its 40th year since its founding by Spiro and Angie Hionis in 1985. Now operated by their children Tim, Spiro, Pete, and Gerry, it has expanded to 18 acres of undercover production and 65 acres of outdoor production across multiple sites. “It’s truly been an honor to continue what our parents started 40 years ago,” said co-owner Tim Hionis.

In addition to nursery products, New Jersey's primary agricultural sectors include fruits and vegetables. Together with nursery/greenhouse/sod industries, they account for about 80 percent of agriculture receipts in the state. The USDA Census of Agriculture data from 2022 showed nearly $300 million in sales for vegetables and nearly $200 million for fruits.

Other top-ranking products from New Jersey include asparagus, blueberries, bell peppers, cranberries, eggplant, spinach, tomatoes, peaches, cucumbers, squash, sweet corn as well as agritourism and seafood.

With over 250,000 acres permanently preserved for agriculture in New Jersey, the industry supports a robust economy providing numerous career opportunities across various fields such as farm production; agribusiness management; food science; banking; education; landscape architecture; urban planning; energy among others.

The leading counties by farmland acreage are Salem (97,465), Burlington (93,594), Hunterdon (91,588), Sussex (71,688), and Warren (70,747). The USDA notes that 94 percent of farms in New Jersey are family-owned.

With approximately 10 thousand farms covering around 750 thousand acres statewide, New Jersey farmers play a vital role as stewards of land contributing positively towards maintaining healthy natural resources benefitting all residents.