Farmers don't want to sacrifice green for green BY CHRIS MURINO Staff Writer Alan Habiak just loves farming. It's in his blood and the "smell in the air" really gets to him. That'swhy he and other farmers in the area oppose the abolishment of the New JerseyDepartment ofAgriculture (NJDA), which has been suggested byGov.Corzine. Corzine said eliminating the department, along with the Commerce Commission and the Department of Personnel, would reduce costs in 2009. There is a combined consolidated savings of about $2.5 million by cutting all three, with a little over $500,000 in savings coming from the abolishment of the NJDA, according to Tom Vincz, the Treasury Department spokesman. "The critical functions [of theNJDA] all will be housed in other state agencies," said Jim Gardner, a spokesman for Corzine. "Similarly, some critical functions will require the same individuals." Vincz said that most of the savings would come from the "upper bureaucratic management of the departments." However, Robert Von Thun, president of theMiddlesex County Board ofAgriculture, said that 53 percent of the jobs in the NJDAhave been deemed essential. Farmers such as Habiak of Habiak Farms are worried about the possible elimination. "They're the farmers' voice," Habiak said. "I know there are not a lot of us left, but we need a voice for the farmers. They've done an awful lot for the assistance of people in need of food." "They administered the gypsy moth program," Von Thun agreed. "We could've lost hundreds and hundredsmore acres of trees." The Middlesex County Board of Freeholders drafted a resolution March 20 opposing the proposed abolishment. "We have a lot of farmers inMiddlesex County and it affects our people," said Freeholder Director David Crabiel. However, Gardner said, "Agriculture will remain an important part ofNewJersey's economy and New Jersey's heritage. The bottom line is when someone in the New Jersey agriculture industry calls a person's number [at the NJDA] that they've called in the past, the phone number will still ring, it will just be in a different department." Yet Habiak said that dividing the responsibilities will cause a person in need to be "the low man on the totem pole." In addition, the "Jersey Fresh" brand is an important part of marketing for farmers that is run by the department.Habiak also said the department does a lot in terms of farmland preservation, which could be harmed by its elimination. "The message that the government is sending is that they don't care about farmers," he said. "It's a slap in the face." "If farmers don't have a support system, thenwhywould they continue to stay here?" Von Thun agreed. Habiak wants the tradition of farming to continue on for the next generation. "Our produce tastes different. People say the soils in Middlesex County are the best on the East Coast," he said. "We are the Garden State - we'll continue to be the Garden State. Let's try to keep what we have left here. I'm a fourth-generation farmer. I'mhopingmy kidswill keep farming." Rhode Island and Alaska are the only two other states without departments of agriculture. The Legislature stillmust approve this plan, which is included in Corzine's budget.