USDA Report Shows NJ Farmland Acreage Is Up

The U.S. Department of Agriculture published a census showing the state of farms nationwide, including the Garden State. The newest report was published today. In New Jersey, the acreage of farmland in 2017 has increased where it stays at an estimated 734,000 acres.

“It is good news that the loss of farmland has ended for now in New Jersey. In the past New Jersey was losing its farm land at an alarming rate. The stopping of losing farmland shows that protecting agricultural lands in Highlands and Pinelands work. It shows the importance of protections like the Highlands Act and Pinelands Act. Growth of organic farms has also brought in new farmers and Farm-to-Table has helped. Agricultural zoning like in East Amwell works to protect farmland too. More importantly, funding for farmland preservation is another reason why New Jersey’s acreage hasn’t dropped in the last year,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.

In the 2017 Census data of the report for New Jersey, there are 9,833 farms covering 734,084 acres. Total harvested cropland in New Jersey for 2017 totaled at 411,785.

“In order for New Jersey to preserve its farmland, we need to make sure that the rules that protect it are secured. It was the Farm Bureau who sued over the Pinelands Act, the Highlands Act, stream buffers and septic density rules. They took the side of developers over the farmers and are more concerned about growing houses than farms. They also sued towns over agricultural zoning. Luckily, they lost those cases that that agricultural farmland can be preserved and protected. Instead, the land preservation and environmentalists are doing a lot to save farmland. In 1950 there was 2 million acres of farmland in New Jersey, we’ve loss over 60% of that. It’s critical that New Jersey keeps its farmland for this generation and generations to come,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.