Designates hazelnut as State nut of New Jersey.

S 2186 designates the hazelnut as New Jersey's official State nut, recognizing its growing economic significance. This symbolic bill directly affects New Jersey residents and the state's agricultural identity, highlighting Rutgers University's development of blight-resistant hazelnut varieties that enable commercial farming in the state for the first time. The bill references how Rutgers' 2020 release of disease-resistant varieties - named after NJ locations like Raritan and Somerset - allowed over 30 growers to plant more than 100 acres, making New Jersey the first East Coast state to cultivate this cash crop. The designation acknowledges hazelnuts' role in a multi-billion-dollar industry with increasing demand for products like nut butters and baked goods.