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Agriculture New Jersey is not called the Garden State for nothing. Our abundance of agri- cultural industries is directly at risk from cli- mate extremes. New Jersey ranks among the top ten states for production of blue- berries, cranberries, peaches, tomatoes, bell peppers, snap beans, cucumbers, spinach, and squash. 5 According to the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, New Jersey’s 10,300 farms generated cash receipts totaling $1.12 billion, which can be broken down as follows: • Nursery/greenhouse/sod industry = $453.6 million • Fruits and vegetables = $428.8 million • Field crops = $112.2 million • Equine = $46 million • Sale of poultry and eggs = $30.7 million

• Dairy industry = $27.5 million 6 And these numbers do not include the growers of specialty crops, includ- ing the state’s vineyards or our large fish and seafood industry. 7 Rising temperatures will have a damaging impact on a large section of our crops. Predicted effects from climate change include “decreasing yield, obsolescence of certain variet- ies, and increased needs for both land conservation and water management strategies. For livestock, decreases in production and yield are also expect- ed. A predicted increase in pests and insects, as well as the migration of invasive plant species, will threaten both crops and livestock.” 8 A large scale shift may also be seen as the optimum latitude for crops will move northward as temperature increases. 9

“Rising temperatures will have a damaging impact on a large section of our crops.”

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Public Health The immediate or near impact of cli- mate change on public health is hard- er to predict. According to research- ers at Rutgers, the expected areas of impact on human health falls into these four categories: CONT I NU E S ON PAGE 54

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