Secretary
of Agriculture Art Brown leads the state's agricultural
agenda in New Jersey, the most urban state in the
nation, and faces a wide variety of challenges and
issues. Appointed as Secretary of Agriculture in
1982, Brown charted a course for taking Garden State
agriculture into the 21st century, a course focused
on marketing, farmland preservation, biological pest
control, soil and water conservation, and animal
and plant disease prevention. Under Secretary Brown's
leadership, the New Jersey Department of Agriculture
set national marketing standards with its award-winning
Jersey Fresh program. Nationally recognized for its
efforts in biological pest control -- using beneficial
insects against crop pests -- the department also
forged strong goals to preserve the natural resources
of the state. This goal was further enhanced with
a broad soil and water conservation program. In an
urban state faced with the loss of farmland due to
pressures of development, Secretary Brown advocated
for new measures to retain agriculture's thriving,
healthy status. Particularly notable is the enactment
of the Garden State Trust Fund, a constitutionally-dedicated
source of funding for farmland and open space preservation
that will fuel the preservation of 500,000 acres
of farmland over the next decade. Also enacted with
Secretary Brown's impetus are the recent amendments
to the state Right to Farm Act, legislation that
protects responsible farmers from unnecessary government
restrictions and nuisance legal actions. Born in
Fulton, New York and raised on a Massachusetts dairy
farm, Brown learned early of the many challenges
facing agriculture. He worked as one of New Jersey's
county agriculture agents for 11 years and attained
professorship at Cook College before being named
Secretary of Agriculture. He also held numerous positions
with various agricultural firms over the years prior
to that. With a bachelor of science degree in animal
science from the University of Massachusetts in hand,
Art earned a masters degree in horticulture from
Cook College, Rutgers University in 1977. A member
of the National Association of State Departments
of Agriculture, Brown currently serves as chairman
of the United States Department of Agriculture's
Census Advisory Committee and chairman of both the
New Jersey State Agriculture Development Committee
and the State Soil Conservation Committee. He is
also a trustee of the Southern New Jersey Development
Council. In 1999 he was elected president of Food
Export USA/Northeast (formerly EUSAFEC); was appointed
by Governor Christie Whitman as a member of the Northeast
Interstate Compact Commission; was named to the United
States Department of Agriculture's Advisory Committee
on Agriculture Statistics and inducted into the New
Jersey Nursery & Landscape Association's Hall
of Fame. He is a member of the Board of Managers
of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station,
and a trustee of the New Jersey Agricultural Society,
the New Jersey Agriculture Museum, the New Jersey
District Export Council of the United States Department
of Commerce, the National Association of State Departments
of Agriculture and the New Jersey State Planning
Commission. Brown has also served on the National
Commission on Agriculture and Rural Development Policy;
as past president and executive board member of the
National Association of State Departments of Agriculture;
as past president of the Northeastern Association
of State Departments of Agriculture and the Eastern
United States Agricultural and Food Export Council;
on the board of directors of the United Fresh Fruit
and Vegetable Association; as member of the United
States Department of Environmental Protection's State/EPA
Operations Committee; and on the United States Department
of Agriculture's Advisory Committee on Swine Health
Protection. Brown has received the National FFA Association's
highest honor, the Honorary American FFA Degree;
the Southern New Jersey Development Council's Statesman
Award; and the Golden Flower Award from the New Jersey
State Florists Association and the New Jersey Plant
and Flower Growers Association; and the New Jersey
Education Association's 1996 Leadership Award. In
1996 he received the President's Award from the US
Harness Writers Association and in 1995 the New Jersey
Horse Council named him Horseman of the Year. Brown
and his wife Carolyn have six children and ten grandchildren.
In recognition of his leadership, accomplishments
and contributions, and with the greatest appreciation
for her many years of service which have greatly
benefited the agricultural industry of this state,
the Board of Trustees of the New Jersey Agricultural
Society takes great pleasure in presenting ARTHUR
R. BROWN with its highest honor, THE GOLD
MEDALLION.
|
|
|