Authorizes county agricultural development boards to contractually purchase supplies for sale to New Jersey farmers.

A4029

ASSEMBLY, No. 4029

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 12, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman� ANDREA KATZ

District 8 (Atlantic and Burlington)

Assemblyman� ALEX SAUICKIE

District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)

Assemblywoman� MARISA SWEENEY

District 25 (Morris and Passaic)

SYNOPSIS

���� Authorizes county agricultural development boards to
contractually purchase supplies for sale to New Jersey farmers.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
concerning private markets for the purchase and sale of
agricultural products and supplementing Title 4 of the Revised Statutes.

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

���� 1.��� As used in this act:

���� �Agricultural product
aggregator� means a non-public vendor that is a duly-organized business or
non-profit organization authorized to do business in this State, which may
enter into a contract with a board for the purchase of agricultural products,
and offers a centralized source of agricultural resources or assets, on behalf
of multiple end-use farmers.

���� �Board� means a county
agriculture development board established by a county pursuant to section 7 of
P.L.1983, c.32 (C.4:1C-14), which develops and adopts programs for the
long-term encouragement of the agricultural business in the State.���� �Committee�
means the State Agriculture Development Committee established pursuant to
section 4 of the �Right to Farm Act,� P.L.1983, c.31 (C.4:1C-4).

���� �Department� means the
Department of Agriculture. �

���� �Farmer Supply Link Program�
or �program� means the program for purchase of discounted agricultural supplies
for sale to eligible New Jersey farmers, established pursuant to section 2 of
this act.������

���� �Opportunity buying� means the
purchasing of agricultural products from vendors at a significant discount that
are only available for a short period of time before the agricultural products
become unavailable for purchase.

���� 2.��� a.� The committee, in
consultation with the department, shall develop a bulk purchasing program designed
to reduce individual farmers� supply costs, to be called the �Farmer Supply
Link Program.� �The program shall be administered by the boards, and may be
organized by a third party, certified non-profit agency. The purpose of the
program is to support New Jersey farmers in purchasing agricultural supplies,
developing agricultural capital, and accessing agricultural assets.� The goal
of this program shall be to mitigate the costs of starting and managing a farm
business, and to maintain and improve the resilience of the farming industry.

���� b.� Through the program, boards
may enter into contracts with experienced agricultural product aggregators,
whose sale price is most advantageous to the board in accordance with
subsection d. of this section, for the purchase of bulk agricultural supplies. New
Jersey farmers may then pre-order and purchase agricultural supplies.� These
supplies may include but are not limited to equipment, compost, fertilizer,
fuel, farm infrastructure, seeds, livestock, and pesticides. �A board shall not
arrange for such a contract unless those agricultural supplies are provided at
a discounted or reduced rate.

���� c.� The order and sale of agricultural
products through this program shall be exclusive to eligible New Jersey
farmers, as determined by the department and the committee.

���� d.� Each board shall develop
rules, fee schedules, goals, and formats for the distribution of agricultural
supplies. �The rules must establish guidelines for practicing opportunity
buying strategies for off-contract purchases of agricultural supplies from an
agricultural product aggregator. �The rules must establish specific,
reasonable, and measurable benchmarks towards achieving the procurement goals.�
Fees established by each board shall be reasonable, adjusted annually in direct
proportion to the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index, and not less
than the amount necessary to allow the board to recover all costs associated
with the implementation and enforcement of the purchasing contract, including
direct, indirect, and administrative costs. �Any revenue collected by the board
from purchasing agricultural supplies through the program in excess of the
minimum fees established by the board shall be deposited as a credit to the
Preserve New Jersey Farmland Preservation Fund.

���� e.�
In
the first year a board participates in the program, the board shall request
grants from the committee, which shall make awards from the Preserve New Jersey
Farmland Preservation Fund. The committee shall establish eligibility and
prioritization criteria for award of funds to eligible boards.� Subsequent to
the first year of the program, any contract by a board with an agricultural
product aggregator for the purchase of agricultural supplies shall be payable
only from amounts derived from the collection of the fees established under
subsection d. of this section.

���� f.� Boards are authorized,
either through the adoption of rules and regulations, or through the terms of
the purchase agreements made pursuant to subsection b. of this section, to
establish terms governing the use of agricultural supplies purchased through
the program.� These rules and regulations may include, but are not limited to,
prioritization systems for new and beginning farmers or farmers with
demonstrated financial need.

����

���� 3.��� Boards are authorized to
participate in programs of the United States Department of Agriculture, or any
other agency or instrumentality of the federal government, or with any program
of any other State agency, in the administration of the program.

���� 4.��� The department, the
committee, and boards may adopt, in accordance with the �Administrative
Procedure Act,� P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), rules and regulations as
necessary to implement this act.�

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

STATEMENT

���� This bill would establish a
�Farmer Supply Link Program� (program) to support New Jersey farmers in
purchasing bulk agricultural supplies, developing agricultural capital, and
accessing agricultural assets at a discounted rate.� The goal of this program is
to mitigate the costs of starting and managing a farm business, and to maintain
and improve the resilience of the farming industry. This bill addresses
recommendations from the New Jersey Department of Agriculture�s report, �The
Next Generation of Farming in New Jersey.�

���� The bill authorizes the State
Agricultural Development Committee and Department of Agriculture to develop a
bulk purchasing program designed to reduce individual farmers� supply costs, to
be called the �Farmer Supply Link Program.�� The program is to be administered
by county agricultural development boards (boards).� The bill establishes
several definitions specific to the program, such as for strategic purchasing
practices required in each boards� procurement and goal setting efforts.

���� Under the program, boards
would be authorized to enter into contracts or purchase agreements with
established agricultural product aggregators to purchase discounted bulk
agricultural supplies.� Agricultural party aggregators would participate in the
�Farmer Supply Link Program� under the oversight of a third party, non-profit
agency. Agricultural supplies may include equipment, compost, fertilizer, fuel,
farm infrastructure, seeds, livestock, and pesticides.� Supplies would then be
ordered by and sold to farmers.

���� The bill authorizes boards to
establish rules, regulations, fee schedules, and formats for the distribution
of agricultural supplies.� Fees are required to be reasonable,
Consumer-Price-Adjusted, and sufficient to recover all costs associated with
the implementation and enforcement of the purchasing contract, including
direct, indirect, and administrative costs.� Boards are also authorized to
establish terms governing the use of agricultural supplies purchased through
the program.� Any excess revenue collected by a board from the purchase of
agricultural supplies through the �Farmer Supply Link Program� in excess of the
minimum fees established by the board are to be deposited as a credit to the
Preserve New Jersey Farmland Preservation Fund. �In establishing rules and
regulations for auctions and product distribution, boards are authorized to
include prioritization of new and beginning farmers, or farmers with
demonstrated financial need. Boards are also authorized to participate in
programs administered by federal departments and agencies in implementing the
�Farmer Supply Link Program.����

���� In the first year a board
participates in the program, boards are to request grants from the committee,
which shall then make awards from the Preserve New Jersey Farmland Preservation
Fund. The committee shall establish eligibility and prioritization criteria for
award of funds to eligible boards.� Subsequent to the first year of the
program, any contract by a board with a agricultural product aggregator for the
purchase of agricultural supplies shall be payable only from amounts derived
from the collection of auction fees.