New Jersey

A

Agriculture

In 2008 there were 10,300 farms in New Jersey. Of those 35 percent had annual sales of more than $10,000; many of the remainder were sidelines for operators who held other jobs. Farmland occupied 295,421 hectares (730,000 acres), of which 67 percent was cropland. Most of the rest was pasture.

Farm income comes mainly from sales of greenhouse products, dairy products, eggs, peaches, and blueberries. New Jersey specializes in producing fruits and vegetables for the eastern seaboard. Its agricultural products supply the markets of New York City, Philadelphia, and those within the state, as well as supplying canners and frozen-food processors.

Poultry farming, once a big business in New Jersey, has declined since the early 1960s. Although poultry farming is practiced throughout the state, the remaining concentrations are on the eastern fringe of the Pine Barrens and in the west central part of the state.

Dairy farming is also a leading but declining branch of agriculture in New Jersey. New Jersey’s dairy farms are found mainly in the northwestern and western counties along the Delaware River. Most of the milk is sold fresh in the state and in New York City and Philadelphia; only a small share is made into butter or other milk products. New Jersey is also a large producer of fruits and vegetables, which are either sold fresh or are frozen or canned. About 18,100 hectares (about 44,600 acres), primarily in Burlington, Gloucester, Salem, and Cumberland counties, are under intense cultivation for vegetable production.

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Peaches and apples are New Jersey’s most important tree crops. The production of apples has been declining; but the success of the peach industry in southern New Jersey has continued, and several new varieties of peaches, including Sunhigh and Jerseyland, have been developed. New Jersey is the third leading state in the production of cranberries, which are grown in the bogs of Atlantic and Burlington counties. Although cranberry output has declined, the increasing production of blueberries on the sandier soil of these two counties has placed New Jersey second in the ranks of blueberry-growing states.

B

Fisheries

The weight and value of New Jersey’s fish catch increased in the 1990s. However, the gains were being made because of increases in the catch of lower-valued species such as squid, skate, dogfish, Atlantic mackerel, butterfish, and herring. The harvest of species that command a higher market price, such as lobster, tilefish, fluke (or summer flounder), whiting (or ling), scallops, black sea bass, and tunas, were all down. Oysters are no longer taken due to certain shellfish diseases. Menhaden, processed into such products as fertilizer, fishmeal, and fish oil, are still caught in large numbers although the industrial processing of the fish is now done in other states. In 2007 the fish catch for the state was valued at $152.5 million.

Surf clam, ocean quahog, and hard clam harvests remain the most important for New Jersey’s fishing industry. Hard clams are successfully aquacultured, or farm raised, in shallow baywaters. A state program of transplanting hard clams from polluted waters to clean beds has increased production.

Pollution of habitat is of declining significance as the cause of changes in New Jersey’s fishing industry. More critical is the over-fishing of desirable species. Most highly valued species are listed as “overexploited,” meaning harvests are declining due to overfishing, or “fully exploited,” meaning any increase in harvest will lead to decline. Only species low in value and demand are classified as “underexploited.” The Cape May and Wildwood area remains the most important commercial fishing port.

C

Forestry

Forestry in New Jersey is not an important commercial activity, although some wood pulp and other forestry products are manufactured. Trees in the state are mostly too small to be of commercial value. State farms do, however, produce a number of Christmas trees for sale in nearby cities.

D

Mining

One of the most important minerals extracted in New Jersey is basalt, or traprock, which is crushed for use in construction. Sand, gravel, peat, and clays are also extracted. The sands of southern New Jersey are excellent for glassmaking. The glassware made there during colonial days was famous, and these sands are still valued. Greensand marls, or glauconite, are dug from pits in the southern part of the state and are sold as fertilizer and water softeners. These marl pits have also produced some notable dinosaur skeletons.

Mines in the highlands of northern New Jersey provided much of the iron used during the American Revolution. These mines operated until the 1960s when competition from cheaper imported ore forced them to close. Foreign competition, coupled with depletion of the ore body at Franklin, has led to decrease in importance of zinc production, in which New Jersey was once a national leader. Oil and natural gas have been found off the Atlantic coast, but in quantities that do not yet encourage commercial exploitation.

E

Manufacturing

The state’s leading industry is the production of chemicals, in which New Jersey leads the nation. About one-sixth of all drugs manufactured in the United States come from New Jersey, which has been called “the nation’s medicine chest.” The chemical industry also produces cleansers and industrial organic chemicals in quantity. Other leading manufacturers are printers and publishers, especially those producing commercial advertising, books, and newspapers; food processors, making such things as brewed beverages, pastas, canned vegetables and soups, and confections; refiners of petroleum; makers of instruments, including navigation equipment, surgical appliances, and photographic equipment and supplies; the makers of industrial machinery, such as heating and refrigeration equipment and pumps; manufacturers of electronic and electrical equipment, such as telephones, radio and television communications equipment, and semiconductors; and fabricators of metal components, including parts for other industries such as stamped metal, sheet metal, and industrial valves.

Broadly speaking, manufacturing is concentrated in two parts of the state. The larger area is found in the northeast, where Bergen, Passaic, Hudson, Essex, and Union counties are tied to the port of New York. A second and smaller concentration hugs the Delaware from Trenton to Camden and is tied to Philadelphia. Since the 1950s industry has moved into suburban and rural areas, especially Morris, Somerset, and Monmouth counties in the northeast, and Gloucester and Burlington counties in the south.

The chemical industry, which makes items ranging from cosmetics and soap to heavy bulk chemicals, as well as pharmaceuticals, is concentrated in Passaic, Essex, and Middlesex counties, particularly in the Raritan River Valley and along the Arthur Kill Channel. A major segment of the industry is also found in Salem County, along the Delaware River. Newark, Camden, Clifton, New Brunswick, and Trenton are all drug manufacturing centers.

Petroleum refining, which services the vast urban markets of New York City and Philadelphia, is carried on along the Arthur Kill in northern New Jersey and along the Delaware in the southwestern part of the state. A large refinery was built during the 1960s at Deepwater on the Delaware River. The crude oil arrives at the refineries by tanker from overseas, and pipelines carry a large quantity of refined petroleum products to consumers.

Electrical machinery, of all types, is made in various parts of the state. Hudson, Bergen, Essex, Passaic, and Mercer are the leading counties in electrical goods manufacturing.

Food processing is declining in southern New Jersey, where much of the vegetable crop now is sold fresh, including “pick your own,” rather than frozen or canned for market. Beer is brewed in and around Newark. Automobile assembly plants are located in Union and Middlesex counties, and aircraft parts and engines are manufactured in Bergen County. The older industrial cities on the fringe of New York City are the principal centers for the production of machinery and fabricated metals. The apparel industry is centered principally in Hudson and Passaic counties as a spillover from New York City’s garment center. The reduction of nonferrous metals is centered around Newark and Raritan bays. Structural brick is made in great quantities from the clay deposits along the Raritan River, while better-grade clay products, such as porcelain fixtures, are made near Trenton. The manufacture of fine china is centered in Pomona, near Atlantic City. The glass industry in Cumberland County supplies containers for the food processing, brewing, and pharmaceutical industries.

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