On July 7, 1997, the Bureau of Child Nutrition Programs moved to the department from the Department of Education. Located in the Division of Markets, the Bureau brings with it the following programs and federal funding:

During FFY97 the number of participants receiving benefits through all programs continued to increase. For example, in 1996 the school lunch program served 498,000 students per day. In FFY97, 528,000 students are served daily.

NEW 'JERSEY FRESH' TELEVISION SPOTS BEING FILMED

Filming began this month on a series of five new infomercials offering selection and usage tips from Secretary Brown on herbs, blueberries, nursery products, dairy products and squash. The 30-second spots are being filmed in part in a studio, in part on-site at farms producing the featured product. The spots will air next year, along with the five produced last year which are currently being seen on cable and network television in the tri-state area.

APPELLATE DIVISION UPHOLDS CONSTITUTIONALITY OF 'SINGLE USE' FACILITY EXEMPTION IN THE FARMLAND ASSESSMENT ACT

The Superior Court Appellate Division recently upheld the constitutionality of the 'single use' facility exemption to the Farmland Assessment Act in VanWingerden vs. Lafayette Township. The decision reversed a previous decision of the Tax Court holding the statute unconstitutional. At the request of the Department of Agriculture, the New Jersey Attorney General intervened on behalf of the farmer.

The amendment to the Farmland Assessment Act provided for an exemption from real property taxes for 'single use' facilities which are designed or constructed so as to be readily dismantled and of a type which could be marketed or sold separately from the farmland and buildings. Excluded from the exemption were structures that enclosed a space within its walls, used for housing, shelter, or working office or sales space, whether or not removable.

The Tax Court ruled that the greenhouse was real property and, hence, the exemption violated the Uniformity Clause of the state constitution, which requires all real property to be taxed on the same basis. The Appellate Division felt that the statute was constitutional since it constituted a valid classification of personal property by the legislature. The decision is a significant one for the state's agricultural industry since it provides for needed tax relief for farmers who have readily demountable greenhouses, grain bins, manure-handling equipment, silos, impoundments, and other structures on their property.

However, the court remanded the case to the Tax Court for a determination of whether the particular greenhouse met the statutory definition of 'single use' facility. In this particular case, the farm had a glass 'Dutch style' greenhouse covering approximately 12 acres with the main greenhouse and a shipping house set in concrete footings. There is some question of whether the greenhouse met the 'single use' definition since it may have included a space within its walls used for office or sales space.

BLUEBERRY INDUSTRY TOUR HELD FOR CANADIAN INSPECTORS

Representatives of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (Agriculture Canada) and USDA/APHIS/PPQ Export Certification staff toured Atlantic Blueberry, Variety Farms and Tru Blu Cooperative in July as part of the effort to develop a new certification program for the shipment of fresh blueberries. Officials met with growers and shippers affected by proposed changes in export requirements to discuss the changes and their marketing impacts. In addition, representatives from Rutgers Cooperative Extension and the Agricultural Experiment Station discussed current and future IPM initiatives for blueberry maggot control. The blueberry maggot is a serious pest of fresh blueberries and is a quarantine pest that limits or prevents shipment of fresh blueberries to many parts of Canada, other countries and states. Everyone who took part in the program found it beneficial.

FARMERS AGAINST HUNGER GLEANINGS BEGIN

The harvest season has begun in earnest with more than 30,000 pounds of produce picked up and distributed this month. Twenty-three farms are participating on a regular basis, 13 of which are new participants this year. The season's first gleaning was held at Donio Farms in Hammonton. Almost 3,000 pounds of produce was picked for the three participating agencies.

VINELAND SALES UP, REVENUE DOWN

Vineland Auction sales are ahead of last year on number of packages but behind on total revenue. As of the beginning of August, 1,916,157 packages had been sold compared to 1,842,673 a year ago but this year's value was $15,947,136 compared to $16,310,054 last year. Average price per package so far this year is $8.32, a decrease of 53 cents from last year.

The blueberry harvest is virtually completed in New Jersey and the major shippers reported total fresh shipments of 2,011,000 12-pint trays compared to 2,004,500 sold in 1996. F.O.B. shipping point prices ranged mostly from $10.00 to $12.00 per tray for most of the season.

GYPSY MOTH SPRAY EVALUATION SHOWS EXCELLENT FOLIAGE PROTECTION

Evaluation of the 18 municipalities treated with B.t. this spring has been completed with excellent foliage protection and egg mass reduction evident in all spray blocks. Final survey results showed a total of 1,910 acres of defoliation, a 93 percent reduction in damage from the prior year. Municipalities where defoliation was observed include Estell Manor and Hamilton Townships in Atlantic County; Southampton and Tabernacle Townships in Burlington County; Voorhees Township in Camden County; Maurice River Township in Cumberland County; Franklin Township in Gloucester County; East Brunswick Township in Middlesex County; and Berkeley and Lakewood Townships in Ocean County. Defoliation notification letters have been sent to the affected municipalities and eight towns have already requested fall gypsy moth egg mass surveys.

ASIAN LONG-HORNED BEETLE SURVEY UNDER WAY

The department has been working with USDA/APHIS/ PPQ and NJDEP's Bureau of Forestry in a survey of the northern half of the state for trees infested with Asian long- horned beetle (ALB). To date, 140 of the 328 sites designated by USDA have been inspected in urban, suburban and rural areas with no infestations of the extremely destructive invader found. The survey will continue through November.

UNUSUAL WEED PLANT INVESTIGATED IN NEW JERSEY

USDA/APHIS notified the department of the presence of a plant, Glossostigma diandrum, in New Jersey that could become a weed problem. A botanist from NJDEP found the plant at three locations in the state. Aside from these locations and one location in Pennsylvania, the plant has never before been found in the Western Hemisphere. The range of this plant is Australia, New Zealand, India and Africa. The department is working with the NJDEP and USDA to determine if this foreign plant has the potential to become a noxious weed.

EQUINE DEATH AT ATLANTIC CITY RACE TRACK INVESTIGATED

At the end of July, the department was notified of the death of a two-year- old thoroughbred race horse stabled at the Atlantic City Race Track. The dead horse was one of nine in the same track barn suffering from a respiratory illness that first became apparent earlier in the month after the horses returned from racing at Monmouth Track. Of the nine horses, three developed acute diarrhea after treatment with antibiotics and diminished respiratory disease. Of the three, two recovered and one died. The dead horse was necropsied and a variety of tests run. Because the remaining affected horses appeared to improve following the initial report of illness, the isolation barn was never used. However, as a precaution, all contact horses were isolated to the assigned barn and foot/hoof traffic was routed around this barn. Lab tests indicated that the horse had died as a result of a secondary salmonella infection following possible exposure to a type A/Equi-2 influenza.

EQUINE INFECTIOUS ANEMIA UPDATE

Approximately 70 New Jersey horses have tested negative for equine infectious anemia (EIA) after exposure to two positive horses shipped separately from Arkansas and Pennsylvania in May and June of this year. The last farm quarantine was lifted at the end of July.

Under state law, the owners of the two positive horses have three options: provide insect-proof housing for lifelong enclosure of the horse, destroy the horse or move the horse under permit to an authorized slaughter plant or research facility. If the owners elect to move the horse, it must be shipped to one of five federally-approved slaughter facilities. Both EIA- positive horses identified in New Jersey this year were shipped to the slaughter facility in Fort Worth, TX. However, when the department attempted to confirm slaughter of one of the horses, we discovered that the facility is unable to confirm receipt and destruction of EIA reactors. In addition, it was discovered that the equine transporters make several stops between New Jersey and the Texas slaughter plant over a period of about three days. Since the department believes the distance and conditions of travel to this slaughter facility are incompatible with reasonable standards of human care of livestock in transit, for which there are currently no federal regulations, the department will recommend that future EIA reactors found in New Jersey be euthanized and buried on site.

FOOD SAFETY CONCERNS GAIN GLOBAL ATTENTION

Worldwide, issues of food safety continue to draw attention to production and handling practices of foods. The department will attend the Georgetown Center for Food and Nutrition Policy's second food pathogen conference in Washington, DC, in September. In addition, the World Health Organization has scheduled an international conference on the Medical Impact of Use of Antimicrobial Drugs in Food Animals in Berlin, Germany, in October where the public health significance of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria will be reviewed and attendees will try to develop international consensus on the critical issues and ways to deal with the problem.

As of August 20, the FDA enacted an order of prohibition under the Animal Medicinal Drug Use Clarification Act prohibiting the use of fluoroquinolones and glycopeptides for extra-label animal drug use. The use of these drugs in food animals has been determined to present a risk to public health due to the potential for increasing the level of drug- resistant zoonotic pathogens.

NJDA PURSUES POSSIBILITY OF MEMBERSHIP IN NORTHEAST DAIRY COMPACT

The department contacted the heads of the New York and Pennsylvania Departments of Agriculture, as well as the head of the Pennsylvania Milk Marketing Board concerning their interest in a coordinated effort to develop an over-order premium program to bring the three states in line with the Northeast Dairy Compact prices for dairy producers. To becpme a part of the Compact would require legislative action by the states as well as the U.S. Congress.

CONFERENCE ON AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION IN NEW JERSEY TO CONVENE

The department is sponsoring a special conference on September 26 on the topic "Reinventing Agricultural Education for the year 2020." To maintain a strong agriculture and food systems environment in the Garden State, agricultural education must be positioned to meet the business and industry needs of agriculture and food systems. This conference will bring together agriculturists, educators, school administrators and agribusiness leaders, to create a vision of the preferred future and direction agricultural education should take to best serve individuals entering the agricultural and food systems work force.

STATE FFA OFFICERS ATTEND WASHINGTON CONFERENCE

BJ Kelly, State FFA President, and Alecia Chris, State FFA Vice President, attended the National FFA State Presidents' Conference in Washington, DC this month. They visited our Congressional delegation, met with USDA Secretary Dan Glickman and USDA staff, attended leadership sessions with the national FFA officers, began working in delegate committees and toured the nation's capitol. BJ Kelly was one of ten state officers from across the nation selected to chair a national FFA committee concerning marketing and merchandising. The committees will complete their work at the national FFA convention this fall.

STUDENT GROUPS TOUR BENEFICIAL INSECT LAB

The beneficial insect laboratory recently hosted student groups from Stockton State College's Governor's School on the Environment and from the University of Puerto Rico to offer the students a first-hand experience in the concepts of integrated pest management and biological control. For both the horticulture students from Puerto Rico and the highly-motivated inner city class from the Governor's School, using insects to control pests was an unfamiliar and exciting idea. Through direct observation and insect dissection, the groups gained unique understanding of how parasites and predators work to control agricultural and environmental pests.

JERSEY BRED WINS HAMBLETONIAN; SIRE STAKES RECORD SET

MALABAR MAN, a New Jersey bred son of the exported SUPERGILL, who formerly stood at Castleton Farm in New Egypt, captured the $1,000,000 final of the Hambletonian Stakes at The Meadowlands keeping his 1997 record unblemished with his seventh win in as many starts. Owned, bred and driven by Malvern Burroughs of Flemington, MALABAR MAN became the 53rd New Jersey sired millionaire with the Hambletonian win which sent his earnings to $1,317,957. MALABAR MAN became the seventh New Jersey sired winner of the Hambletonian since the race was moved to the Meadowlands in 1981.

Other New Jersey sired winners of major events at The Meadowlands included STEINAMS PLACE (ARTSPLACE), who won the $346,750 Mistletoe Shalee for three-year-old filly pacers; MUST BE VICTORY (VALLEY VICTORY), who won the $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks for three-year-old filly pacers; ARMBRO OPERATIVE (CAM FELLA), who won the $300,000 Breeders Crown for older pacers; and EXTREME VELOCITY (CAMTASTIC), who won the $282,500 Breeders Crown for pacing mares.

Both ARTSPLACE and VALLEY VICTORY stand at Southwind Farm in Pennington, CAM FELLA formerly stood at Stonegate Farm in Glen Gardner and CAMTASTIC formerly stood at Fair Winds Farm in Cream Ridge.

The fastest mile in the history of the Sire Stakes Fair Program was turned in by PERFECT ART (ARTSPLACE), who was clocked in 1:52.3 for the mile distance on July 27 and again on August 3.