1980 ordinance placed farming first in Millstone
Agricultural Council reminds planners about right to farm
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

MILLSTONE - Planning Board members learned more last week about the state's Right to Farm Act and its local effect.

Tony Romano, chairman of the township's Agricultural Council, and Pat Butch, a member of the council, gave a presentation regarding the act at the board's Feb. 12 meeting.

Butch said the Agricultural Council wants to educate the community about right-to-farm issues and mediate any concerns.

The township has its own Right to Farm ordinance, which was passed in 1980. According to the ordinance, the right to farm throughout the township is recognized as a natural right, regardless of zoning designation, specified uses or prohibited uses set forth elsewhere, but is subject to the restrictions and regulations for intensive fowl or livestock farms and to the township's health and sanitary codes.

The right to farm includes the use of irrigation pumps and equipment, aerial and ground seeding and spraying, tractors, farm laborers and chemical fertilizers, insecticides and herbicides for the purpose of producing from the land agricultural products, including vegetables, grains, hay, fruits, fibers, wood, trees, plants, shrubs, flowers and seeds.

"The right to farm also includes the right to use land for grazing by animals, subject to restrictions for intensive fowl or livestock farms," according to the ordinance.

The ordinance also states that activities included in the right to farm, when conducted in accordance with generally accepted agricultural practices, can occur on holidays, Sundays and weekdays at night and during the day.

"The noise, odors, dust and fumes created are also specifically permitted as part of the exercise of this right," the ordinance states.

According to the ordinance, any inconvenience caused to others by farming activities "is more than offset by the benefits from farming," which are named as the preservation of open space, the beauty of the countryside, and the preservation and continuance of farming operations as a source of agricultural products for current and future generations.

The township ordinance also notes that developers of property for residential use have to give notice to prospective purchasers that there is existing or potential farm use of adjacent property.

Butch said the township will review its Right to Farm ordinance this year and see if it needs updating.

According to Butch, farms must meet the eligibility of the N.J. Farmland Assessment Act of 1964. Under that statute, a commercial farm is a farm no less than 5 acres producing agricultural or horticultural products worth $2,500 or more annually, and satisfying the criteria for differential property taxation pursuant to the state Farmland Assessment Act of 1964. A commercial farm could also be a farm of less than 5 acres that produces agricultural or horticultural products worth $50,000 or more annually and otherwise satisfying the eligibility criteria for differential property taxation pursuant to the Farmland Assessment Act.

Butch said that as a farm management unit, parcels, whether contiguous or not, may be combined together if they operate as a single enterprise even if they are not in the same municipality.

For farm markets, the act stipulates that 51 percent of their retail product must come from the agricultural production of the farm, or at least 51 percent of their sales area must be dedicated to sales of their agricultural output, according to Butch.

Butch said that if a retail market is on less than 5 acres, the property must generate sales of at least $2,500 of produce annually.

Temporary greenhouses, and agricultural businesses such as corn mazes, fall under the Right to Farm, according to Butch. She also said that commercial farms have the right to clear woodlands for agriculture and use open burning.

"They get certain rights to help make farming a viable industry," she said.

In order to make sure developers inform all their potential buyers of the possible farm uses of adjacent properties, Butch suggested that the Planning Board put it on a checklist.

"It's good for residents moving in to know beforehand rather than later," Butch said.