October 11, 2011 by

Ag Planner, Policy-Maker Resources:
Looking Back on NJ Farmland Preservation

Even the best designed program to protect farmland resources will ultimately fail
if farming is not profitable.

-G.S. Halich, Equity Issues in Farmland Preservation.

For five decades, New Jersey has proactively sought to preserve its agricultural base. New Jersey was an early adopter of farmland assessment, which allows qualified farmland to be assessed for tax purposes according to its use value in agriculture rather than full market value. The cornerstone of farm retention efforts in nearly all states, this policy brings farm real estate taxes in line with farm incomes. New Jersey voters have long supported financing of an aggressive farmland preservation program. As of 2011, $1.5 billion has been spent to permanently protect more than 2000 farms and nearly 200,000 acres of farmland from development. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Agritourism, Articles, Economics, Education, Farmers-Communities
October 10, 2011 by

Rutgers NJAES Cooperative Extension Agritourism Resources

  • Conferences & Seminars
    • 2015 Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention [pdf]
      Risk Management in On-Farm Direct Marketing – Jan 29 – Crystal Room
      9:00 Direct Marketing – Is It Right For You, Doing a Self Assessment
      Stephen Komar, Rutgers Cooperative Extension
      9:30 Selecting and Training Employees to Improve Safety for Direct Marketing
      Michelle Infante-Casella, Rutgers Cooperative Extension
      10:00 Assessing Farm Safety When Inviting the Public on Your Property
      William Bamka, Rutgers Cooperative Extension
      10:45 Right To Farm, Deed of Easement and Other Regulations that Impact Direct Marketing
      Brian Schilling, Rutgers Cooperative Extension
      11:30 Food Aspects for Direct Marketing
      Meredith Melendez, Rutgers Cooperative Extension
    • 2013 Agritourism Risk Management Workshop [pdf]
    • 2012 Atlantic Coast Agricultural Convention and Trade Show [Agritourism session]
    • 2012 New Jersey Agritourism Conference  [pdf]

    [Read more…]

Filed Under: Agritourism, Articles, Education
September 26, 2011 by

Time to get in Cover Crop


To say it’s been a tough year for farmers, would be an understatement. The 2011 growing season has been marked by heavy rains, high winds, flooding, and extreme heat. Rob Shortell, former Rutgers grad student and now Assistant Professor at Cal Poly, got it right when he said,

farming is about the details… “it’s the weather, the timing, the attentiveness to details.”

And right now we’ve got a small window of opportunity to get in cover crops. There are only about 7 NJ fall seeding days for ideal establishment.

At RAREC, we had a perfect day on Thursday, September 22, and planted …
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, Growing Crops, Soils
June 27, 2011 by

High Tunnel Cover Crop Evaluation

phacelia

Phacelia
Photo courtesy University of Delaware


Four cover crops will be evaluated in High Tunnels at RAREC this Fall.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, Growing Crops, Soils, Technologies