Douglas H. Fisher, New Jersey’s Secretary of Agriculture

Three administrations. Hurricane Sandy. A global pandemic. Headwinds of climate change. Rapidly evolving technology. Food insecurity. Rising land values. These are just a few of the factors that have directly affected food and farming in the Garden State over the past 14 years. And they are just a few of the issues that have been the backdrop of Doug Fisher’s tenure as New Jersey’s Secretary of Agriculture, a role he has held since 2009 and will step down from on July 1.

Still, on a bright sunny day in May, the Secretary is out at Muth Family Farm in Williamstown, doing one of the many things he does so well: promoting Jersey-grown food and the farmers who grow it.

“Muth Family Farm has set a standard for how organic growing can be a highly successful venture,” Secretary Fisher says at the press kick-off to the 2023 Jersey Fresh season. “The ability to use organic practices has allowed the farm to keep a rich and vibrant soil base to grow an outstanding variety of crops. We encourage consumers to support our farmers by purchasing locally grown produce wherever it is sold.”

Tall, personable, and inquisitive, Fisher possesses a spirited enthusiasm for New Jersey agriculture that’s infectious. In many ways, he’s the #1 cheerleader for New Jersey agriculture, and he’ll be missed.

New Jersey’s Department of Agriculture oversees a multitude of programs that touch the lives of nearly every New Jersey resident. With a focus to “promote, protect, and serve the Garden State’s diverse agriculture and agribusiness industries,” the nearly 300-person entity helmed by Fisher manages initiatives including soil and water conservation, farmland preservation, school lunches, the expansion of agricultural export markets, and more.

Edible Jersey caught up with the Secretary at his office in Trenton recently to look back at his tenure and forward to the future of ensuring safe, healthy food access in the nation’s most densely populated state.

As editor of Edible Jersey, I’ve always felt that New Jersey has the best food story in the country. What’s your view on that front?

It absolutely does. We have it all. We have something of everything. We’re on the water, we’ve got the topography, we got the microclimate, we have the population density, we have the diversity. We’re blessed with still-plentiful forest land and farmland.

If we can just hold on to what we’ve got, I think New Jersey will continue to lead the way. It is not going to be easy because there’s a lot of pressure right now in farming and a lot of pressure on small business in general.

What’s your biggest concern regarding the future of agriculture in the Garden State?

My concern about farming in the future in New Jersey is the cost of doing business. It’s a high-cost state. And, obviously, the pressures of climate change are going to have an effect on lots of farming operations across the state.

The biggest thing that worries me, though, is what could happen to fruits and vegetables. What happened to manufacturing could happen to our ability to grow and sustain the everyday farm products that we consume. It’s tied to the cost of doing business. Imports are obviously much cheaper because they pay lower wages. The regulations are not there like we have; the safeguards that we have are [often] not there. If you take it strictly down to dollars and cents, the American farmer can lose out.

And the similarity to manufacturing?

It happened in manufacturing where we outsourced everything and then found ourselves at the mercy of those we outsourced to. It’s the same with fruits and vegetables. We are importing way too much, in some respects, because of unfair competition and other factors.

I want the public to be aware that [Jersey produce] won’t always be there if we don’t really support it, in ways that we ask for it. That’s why we’re so fervent about our campaigns: Jersey Fresh and Grown Right Here. That’s really my biggest concern.

THERE ARE FARMERS AROUND THE STATE WHO ARE INNOVATORS. THEY SEE THE CHANGES; THEY MAKE THE ADJUSTMENTS.

During the pandemic, people seemed to realize how lucky we are to have local farms growing diverse products within easy reach.

They did, but when it comes to marketing, people’s appreciation can wane very fast. It’s human nature.

When COVID first hit, people absolutely recognized that it was to their benefit that they could find these products on their farms. And the farmers were nimble enough and quick enough that they could shift a lot of their operations to meet that demand. We had wholesalers that became retailers; we had retail farmers that became CSAs, any number of ways. You don’t appreciate something, until it’s not there.

With the world relatively back to “normal,” it feels important to remind consumers to stay engaged with supporting local farms.

That’s why we encourage people to make a concerted effort to ask for [Jersey-grown food]. Just ask for these things, whether it’s of a farmer or in the supermarket. [Retailers] who satisfy demand will give people what they want. If [customers] want the lowest absolute price and have no concern where their food comes from, they’ll give them that…. I think younger folks, the younger generation, are asking these questions a lot more. They really do want to know where these products came from.

They want to know their farmer…

Every farm in the state has a story. Every single one. They have a story to tell about what they do and why they do it, and how they do it. The trick is to maintain their authenticity. To explain what they are doing, and people will make up their own minds.

Looking back over your tenure, what accomplishments are you, personally, most proud of?

We have several divisions and we’re in people’s lives in any number of ways. Whether it’s food nutrition or working directly with farmers on the farms. Whether it’s in the schools, plant inspection, safety…

We increased school breakfasts through Breakfast After the Bell by 120,000 students [editor’s note: 35 million school breakfasts served this year]. That was very important to me. We were almost last in the country in terms of school breakfast and now we’re at a much higher ranking. If you can’t start the day with something in your belly, it’s a travesty. We’re constantly trying to increase that opportunity for students.

One side of [my role] is the policy and direction side and just the internal working of the department. Every division had to move somewhere in a new building since I’ve been here. We have new animal labs, new plant labs…. Everybody had to move and we didn’t miss a beat.

We got national accreditation for our animal diagnostic lab and there were only 18 of them in the country*. So, I’m very proud of that.

We are, literally, leading the nation and are relied upon nationally for our work in FSMA [Food Safety Modernization Act]. It ensures that we have safe product and we work with the farmers so they can have all the tools at their disposal: education, inspections, and so forth.

Keeping the beneficial insect lab. It had been closed several times for lack of funding. We were able to secure the funding for Integrative Pest Management systems. So we can study things like the spotted lanternfly, stink bug and aphids.

Making sure that we didn’t get our land—our prime soils—chewed up with solar and learning how to manage competing good public policy with solar.

Was there a drive to put more solar on farms?

Absolutely. We want it on our farms, but not in prime soils.

So, we’re at a place now where we’re studying dual use solar.

Was the solar push coming from environmental initiatives or organizations?

It was coming from developers. [Solar energy] could be beneficial to the farmers, but you could just cash out. Put solar panels up and not farm. We’re saying you can do both.

Developers develop. That’s their job. What the easiest place to develop? A piece of flat farmland in South Jersey that’s already been cleared and you put panels up.

We’re in a much better place now because we tamped down the huge “Wild West” notion. We’ll still have plenty of solar. You can put solar on warehouses, under high tension, on dumpsites, on landfills, but why prime soil? But you have to manage the expectation of the farmer about being told what they can do. We are talking about preserved land. On non-preserved land, it’s a different story.

What do you see as other highlights of your administration?

We have the only enforceable statute [in the nation] to defend the rights of backyard beekeepers. Beekeepers were sometimes being unfairly targeted [by their communities].

School gardens. Ever since I’ve been here in 2009, any way I can promote school gardens, I do, knowing what it does for children and seeing the results. We did legislation to be sure that you could bring what was grown in the garden into the school and use it. When I got here, you couldn’t do that because of liability issues. Now you can.

This job is almost like no other. During COVID, I was very proud of the work that we did with the federally qualified health care centers to make sure that migrant workers received the care, the shots that they needed. It was a massive undertaking to make sure that farm workers who were coming here were protected and that the farms were protected. They may have missed the treatments that were so necessary if we had not done it in a way that was fully coordinated between the department and the Department of Health.

What do you feel has been the key to these collaborations, to your success?

Coordination and communication. To me, those are the two things that you have to work out in order to make things soar.

In his remarks about your retirement, Governor Murphy mentioned your advocacy on the agri-tourism front as one of your accomplishments. What’s your view of agri-tourism?

Agri-tourism is a balancing act. It’s absolutely essential in many farmers’ lives to be able to have the opportunity to get additional revenue, because farming is such an erratic price-taking load sometimes, where you don’t know if you’re going to get the price you need because of certain conditions. Agritourism is a very dependable way for them to get additional revenue.

What you try to do, though, is to balance between communities that want to have their boundaries and farmers that also need to do what they can do with the blessings of the “right to farm” protection. I’m very proud of this last bill we just got signed [Special Occasions Event Bill NJS757, signed in February 2023]. We had to work with big municipalities, legislators, the Farm Bureau, Rutgers, and a number of organizations.

This will benefit wineries, too?

Yes. Wineries are certainly a growing phenomenon.

They’re winning awards, national and international, and they’re gaining stature. They’re really notching it up.

NJ farms tend to be much smaller than farms on the national level. Do you view this as an advantage or disadvantage?

It’s according to who’s farming it. Their intent as to how big or how small they want to be. The advantage is that, in a state like ours, you could have a very small farm, but you have 50 million people within a relatively small mile radius. You can find a niche market to satisfy, whether it’s ethnic specialties or flowers. [On the other hand,] very large farms can benefit from economies of scale. The ones in the middle are the ones that struggle. The struggle is to become smaller, bigger, and if you stay the same, you have to innovate. You can’t just farm and not recast yourself. That’s the way I look at it.

As you’ve said it’s an expensive state. Any thoughts on making land more affordable for farmers who want to farm here?

In many parts of the state, in the southern part, land is much cheaper. You can find land, in particular, preserved land. There’s still wide-open opportunity in terms of acquisition, if you’re willing to move. If you want to stay in Princeton? It’s going to be very difficult.

What about technology? Do you see it playing more of a role in farming?

The future of farming has to have technological components and usage on so many different levels: data collection, broadband, drones, probes, AI—all of it.

Why? There are a number of reasons. 1) It will make that farmer as efficient as they need to be to be able to survive and thrive. 2) It cuts down an amazing amount of waste in resources. When you can go in and, literally, fly over a field and pick out weeds and zap them. … They have drones that are zapping individual plants. They have other drones that are flying over plants and taking the reading on individual plants to hyperfocus on what to treat it with—and skipping the plant right next to it. Even to the point of knowing when to pick. Profitability, less waste, greater productivity.

What do you feel is the key to opportunity for our farmers, if there is one?

You just have to keep innovating. You can’t just say “I grow tomatoes” and expect that the world’s going to take care of you. There are farmers around the state who are innovators. They see the changes; they make the adjustments. They stretch their limits and their resources, and they become very successful at it. But it’s not for the faint of heart.

And the only thing that’s certain is change, right?

This state has changed enormously over the years. At one time, Middlesex [County] and those areas were potatoes. Dairy was huge in the north and the south. Tomatoes were huge all over south Jersey. Hunterdon County was once the number one peach county in the country.

NEW JERSEY WILL CONTINUE TO LEAD THE WAY. IT IS NOT GOING TO BE EASY BECAUSE THERE’S A LOT OF PRESSURE RIGHT NOW IN FARMING AND A LOT OF PRESSURE ON SMALL BUSINESS IN GENERAL.

The Secretary with farmer Bob Muth and Joe Atchison of the NJDA

What happened?

Nursery came in. We’re a huge nursery state. I think we’re number 7 in the country. We beat out, I think, New York and Pennsylvania. We’re number 4 in floriculture in the country.

And [we] have national rankings of production that most are not aware of. #1 in eggplant, a specialty crop. At different times, cranberries have been #4. Our growers are so progressive.

The way I look at it is that people are here. We just have to figure out how we can use our location to that advantage.

And our specialty and niche crops often have a following, don’t they?

Yes, there are niche crops that have ethnic backgrounds. People drive from all over the region. Out of state and in state.

When you like something, you’ll travel. That’s what I always say about peaches. If you hit a peach when it’s ripe, it’s nirvana. If it’s handled right and you know the variety, you’ll drive for that. There’s a thing called the Loring peach, an old, old variety. If you get one of those when it’s ripe—they don’t ship well, you have to get it off the tree—it’s the best ever.

Seafood is also in your department’s domain. Your views on that front?

I’ve always thought I would like to do a better job of branding what we land here. For instance, we’re the number 2 port in the country for landing sea scallops. There’s one guy down in Cape May. The Lobster House. They have a couple big scallop boats that go out. It’s very regulated and yet we have managed our beds really well.

I remember you once saying that you would like to see scallops being to New Jersey what lobster is to Maine or crabs are to Maryland. Do you still feel that way?

Yes. “I want those Jersey scallops because they’re the best.”

But you need money to do that and you need to align whatever interests there are [among operators]. You don’t always get a unanimous agreement.

Most people don’t know that we land all these sea scallops here. They don’t know we’re number one in pogues in the country. They don’t know there is a Jersey lobster industry. When you think of the 125+ miles of coastline plus the Barnegat Bay and other places, it’s billions of dollars that we’re pulling in. I would love to work towards branding it in a way where [people] knew New Jersey seafood like you know Louisiana gumbo or Maryland blue crabs and Maine lobster.

Perhaps it’s because of our density but New Jersey often seems disconnected from itself. I’ve met people who don’t even realize there are farms or a thriving seafood industry in New Jersey.

Yes, folks in the southwest part of the state do not really know as much as you would think about the northwest part of the state and vice versa.

I once went to the motion picture industry and said “I want you to know that you can film here. We have farms. You’ll think you’re in Kansas. They’ve got the single pole wire stretched out to the house like you see in the Midwest. Just bring me tumbleweed. You won’t know the difference.” [Laughter]. We have people who leave Wall Street and come here to farm…. We have farmers that are 12 generations. You do it because you love it, and you want that lifestyle. New Jersey is four hours top to bottom and we are so proudly diverse.

What do you think you’ll miss the most about this role?

The interactions I have with so many people. I’ll still have them, but I love working with the farming community. I love working with the schools… I’ll still have some of those interactions, but they will be different.

Do you know what’s next for you, personally?

I’m going to take a little breather. I don’t know what I’m going to do but I’ll do something. I’ve been working since I was 10 years old. I want to have purpose. I think it’s important to have purpose and I think it’s important to be active. I just thought it was time here [to step down] at 15 years.

And, of course, I have to ask: favorite meal?

I actually take great pleasure in making great soups. I do it all the time. I never know what I’m going to make. I always use what I have and I just decide that I’m going to make, say, butternut squash soup or whatever strikes my fancy. I make matzoh ball soup. I make kraut with apples and beef. My favorite meal? Chicken Francese.

As you leave office, what would you like to ask of consumers, our readers?

Ask for it, ask for Jersey Fresh. And also understand it may cost a little more. Have a tolerance that it might cost more but [realize that] the benefits are you’re supporting local farming. You’re keeping farms in your midst and the quality’s there. It’s grown, it’s produced, by your neighbors.

* ISO 17025:2005 accreditation from the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation