Directs Dept. of Agriculture to develop and implement beginning farmer mentoring program in cooperation with certain agricultural and educational organizations and entities; appropriates $5,000,000.*

A158 1R

[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY, No. 158

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman� ANDREA KATZ

District 8 (Atlantic and Burlington)

Assemblywoman DAWN FANTASIA

District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)

Assemblyman MICHAEL INGANAMORT

District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblymen Peterson and Scharfenberger

SYNOPSIS

���� Directs Dept. of Agriculture to develop and implement
beginning farmer mentoring program in cooperation with certain agricultural and
educational organizations and entities; appropriates $5,000,000.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As reported by the Assembly Agriculture and Natural
Resources Committee on June 15, 2026, with amendments.

��

AN ACT concerning beginning
farmers
1
[
and
]

,
1
supplementing
Title 4 of the Revised Statutes,
1
and
making an appropriation
1
.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� The Legislature finds
and declares that agriculture is a critically important industry in the State;
that preserving a viable agricultural base in the State will ensure that there
is sufficient fresh, locally grown produce and other agricultural and horticultural
products available for the public to consume and enjoy, which in turn
contributes to promoting the health and welfare of the people; that the public
also enjoys many aesthetic benefits from the presence of farms in their
communities; that the continuing existence of farms and farming in the State is
threatened by numerous pressures and stresses, especially in such a densely
populated and developed state as New Jersey; that one of the major issues
confronting agriculture in both the State and the nation is the increasing
average age of farmers, thus demonstrating that there is insufficient
recruitment of new or beginning farmers; that furthermore, the National
Agricultural Statistics Service in the United States Department of Agriculture
reported in its 2012 census of agriculture that nationally the average age of
the principal operator of a farm rose from 55.3 years in 2002, to 57.1 years in
2007,
1
[
and then
]
1

to 58.3 years in 2012
1
,
and was 58.1 years in 2022
1
;
that, similarly, in New Jersey the average age of the principal operator of a
farm rose from 57 years in 2007 to 59 years in 2012
1
, and
was 58.7 years in 2022
1
;
that farming cannot survive if there are too few farmers in the State; and
that, therefore, it is appropriate and necessary to create a mentoring program
whereby experienced farmers can impart their knowledge to beginning farmers so
that they will have a greater chance to succeed, thus ensuring that agriculture
will continue to be a major industry in the State, in both the near and distant
future, and that the Garden State will always prove itself worthy of that name.

���� 2.��� a.� The Department of
Agriculture, in consultation and cooperation with the State Agriculture
Development Committee, the New Jersey Farm Bureau, the county boards of
agriculture, Rutgers the State University, the New Jersey Agricultural Society,
and any other appropriate agricultural, horticultural, or educational entities
in the State, shall develop and implement a beginning farmer mentoring program
by which experienced farmers would provide guidance, advice, and other
appropriate assistance to beginning farmers so that they and their farms may
succeed and thrive.� The department shall develop the structure of the
beginning farmer mentoring program and the roles the agricultural,
horticultural, and educational organizations and entities shall serve within
it.

���� b.��� The department:

���� (1)�� shall incorporate into
the beginning farmer mentoring program any online linking services and
resources established by the department, and shall develop further avenues and
opportunities for, experienced farmers to mentor beginning farmers, including
establishing criteria for mentoring and the eligibility of farmers to mentor or
be mentored under the program; and

���� (2)�� may partner with
appropriate public or private organizations or entities to accomplish the
purposes of this act, including entering into agreements or contracts with
those organizations or entities to operate the program, in whole or in part,
under the general supervision of the department.

���� c.���� The department shall
adopt, pursuant to the �Administrative Procedure Act,� P.L.1968, c.410
(C.52:14B-1 et seq.), any rules and regulations necessary to implement this
act.

1
3. There is appropriated
from the General Fund to the Department of Agriculture the sum of $5,000,000
for the beginning farmer mentoring program developed pursuant to section 2 of
this act.
1

����
1
[
3.
]

4.
1
���� This
act shall take effect immediately.