A4029 1R

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 ¹[the]¹ boards, and may be organized by a third party, ¹[certified]¹ non-profit ¹[agency] organization exempt from federal taxation pursuant to section 501(c)(3) of the federal Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. s. 501 (c)(3))¹. The purpose of the program ¹[is] shall be¹ 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 ¹purchase agreement¹ 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 ¹participating in the program shall pay an annual fee established pursuant to subsection d. of this section and¹ may then pre-order and purchase agricultural supplies ¹through the program¹. These supplies may include ¹,¹ but ¹[are] shall¹ not ¹be¹ limited to ¹,¹ 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 ¹[this] the¹ program shall be exclusive to eligible New Jersey farmers, as determined by the department and the committee.

d. Each board shall develop ¹program¹ rules ¹[,] establishing¹ fee schedules, ¹procurement¹ goals, and formats for the distribution of agricultural supplies. The rules ¹[must] shall¹ establish guidelines for practicing opportunity buying strategies for off-contract purchases of agricultural supplies from an agricultural product aggregator. The rules ¹[must] shall¹ establish specific, reasonable, and measurable benchmarks towards achieving ¹[the]¹ 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 ¹[the implementation and enforcement of the] executing a¹ purchasing contract, including ¹all¹ 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 ¹[deposited as a credit to the Preserve New Jersey Farmland Preservation Fund] refunded to program participants¹ .

e. ¹[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.]¹ Boards are authorized, either through the adoption of ¹program¹ rules ¹[and regulations]¹, 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. ¹[These] The program¹ rules ¹[and regulations]¹ 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 ¹[with]¹ any program of any other State agency, in the administration of the program.

4. The department, ¹in consultation with¹ the committee ¹[,]¹ and boards ¹,¹ 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.