Designates hazelnut as State nut of New Jersey.

A3392 TR

ASSEMBLY, No. 3392

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman STERLEY S. STANLEY

District 18 (Middlesex)

Assemblywoman MITCHELLE DRULIS

District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)

Assemblywoman TENNILLE R. MCCOY

District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblyman Freiman and Assemblywoman Donlon

SYNOPSIS

���� Designates hazelnut as State nut of New Jersey.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As reported by the Assembly State and Local
Government Committee with technical review.

��

An Act

designating the hazelnut as the State nut of New
Jersey.

Whereas,

Hazelnuts are part of a multi-billion-dollar industry, and the demand for
hazelnuts is expected to increase as the popularity of hazelnut-based products,
including nut butters, baked goods, and candy, is expected to grow; and

Whereas,

A majority of the commercially-grown hazelnuts come from parts of Turkey, with
smaller amounts originating in Italy and other countries with moderate
climates; and

Whereas,

The United States accounts for five percent of hazelnut production worldwide,
and hazelnuts grown in the U.S. come almost exclusively from the Willamette
Valley in Oregon; and

Whereas,

The eastern filbert blight is a fungal disease that can be lethal to
commercially-grown hazelnuts or filberts; and

Whereas,

The eastern filbert blight is found throughout the United States and the
disease has prevented New Jersey and states outside of the Pacific Northwest
from growing hazelnuts commercially; and

Whereas,

In 1996, Rutgers University started a research and breeding program to develop
hazelnuts resistant to the disease and initiate production in New Jersey and
the Mid-Atlantic region; and

Whereas,

In 2020, Rutgers University released to growers its first hazelnut varieties
that are resistant to the eastern filbert blight; and

Whereas,

The university named the new varieties �Raritan,� in honor of the river whose
banks upon which Rutgers University�s New Brunswick campus lies, as well as
�Somerset,� �Monmouth,� and �Hunterdon,� in honor of some of the first New
Jersey counties where the trees are being grown; and

Whereas,

New Jersey is the first state on the East Coast to grow this cash crop and more
than 30 growers have planted more than 100 acres of trees in the State; and

Whereas,

In recognition of the scientific and economic importance of growing hazelnuts,
it is fitting and proper to designate the hazelnut as the State nut; now,
therefore,

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

���� 1. The hazelnut is designated
as the State nut.

���� 2. This act shall take effect
immediately.