(TRENTON) – Legislation sponsored by Assemblywoman Celeste M. Riley to promote New Jersey agriculture was released Monday by an Assembly committee.
“There is a reason why New Jersey is called the Garden State,” said Riley (D-Cumberland/Salem/Gloucester). “In addition to its great industrial past, New Jersey has a proud farming heritage that deserves to be showcased. This bill will help promote agricultural lands through special events for individuals and families to enjoy.”
The bill (A-1272) requires the adoption of agricultural management practices for agricultural tourism events related to marketing and advancing agricultural output of farms, and allows special occasion events that promote agricultural tourism to be conducted at wineries under certain circumstances.
The bill defines a special occasion event to mean a wedding, lifetime milestone event or other cultural or social events as deemed appropriate a county agricultural development board. It would also require an owner or operator of a winery engaged in a special occasion event to annually certify that the events together account for less than 50 percent of the annual gross income of the winery, or an average of less than 50 percent of the annual gross income over a three-year period.
The bill also allows farms to conduct agriculture-related educational and farm-based recreational events provided that the events are related to marketing and advancing the agricultural or horticultural output of the commercial farm.
The bill was released by the Assembly Budget Committee.
