Trenton, N.J.-Farmers and their supporters ?Çô estimated to be as many as 2,000 ?Çô turned out with 120 tractors and farm trucks in front of the state house here April 1 to protest the governor’s plan to eliminate the Dept. of Agriculture and the cabinet position of secretary that goes with it. According to the New Jersey Farm Bureau, which organized the unprecedented demonstration, the protestors ?Çô accompanied by some of their horses, pigs, goats, and chickens ?Çô were joined by a dozen legislators and other representatives from agriculture voicing support for their cause. Farm Bureau President Richard Nieuwenhuis said the objective was to demonstrate that agriculture is behind legislators who believe agriculture deserves to maintain its current standing in state government and promise to seek changes in the state budget so the department can be maintained. Speakers, including the legislators, declared that agriculture is one of the “leanest, most efficient and least costly” departments in state government. Agriculture’s duties would be transferred to the Health and Environmental Protection departments, and the agriculture secretary position in the governor’s cabinet would be eliminated, for a savings of $4 million. The state’s Farm Bureau and others estimated that axing the agency would save only $500,000 and called the move more symbolic than budget cutting.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain