A 158 New Jersey General Assembly · 2026-2027 Regular Session

Directs Dept. of Agriculture to develop and implement beginning farmer mentoring program in cooperation with certain agricultural and educational organizations and entities; appropriates $5,000,000.*

This bill (A 158) requires New Jersey's Department of Agriculture to create and run a beginning farmer mentoring program. It directly affects new farmers seeking guidance and experienced farmers who will provide mentorship. The program, developed with partners like Rutgers University and the New Jersey Farm Bureau, will connect beginning farmers with seasoned mentors to share practical farming knowledge and advice through structured support and online resources. The bill addresses the state's trend of aging farmers (average age 59 in 2012) by aiming to help new farmers succeed and sustain agriculture in New Jersey.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action Jun 15, 2026

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What changed between versions

Introduced → Reprint · 4 edits

MODERATE

The First Reprint of A-158 adds a $5,000,000 appropriation from the General Fund to the Department of Agriculture for the beginning farmer mentoring program, which was not present in the introduced version. The bill also updates its supporting statistics with 2022 census data on average farm operator age and renumbers sections to accommodate the new funding provision.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from a purely directive mandate (requiring the Department of Agriculture to develop a mentoring program) to one that also provides dedicated funding ($5 million) to implement it, giving the program a concrete financial basis.

FISCAL

New Section 3 appropriates $5,000,000 from the General Fund to the Department of Agriculture specifically for the beginning farmer mentoring program.

TECHNICAL

The short title of the act was updated to include 'and making an appropriation' to reflect the new funding section.

Supporting statistics in the preamble were updated to include 2022 census data: national average age of principal farm operator is now cited as 58.1 years (2022) and New Jersey's as 58.7 years (2022), supplementing the prior 2012 figures.

The effective date provision was renumbered from Section 3 to Section 4 to make room for the new appropriation section.

Floor votes

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Jun 15, 2026

Committee

Reported out of Asm. Comm. with Amendments, and Referred to Assembly Appropriations Committee

lower

Jan 13, 2026

Introduced

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee

lower

3 primary · 2 co-sponsors