The booming e-commerce industry has led to major warehouse development in New Jersey in recent years. Opponents say that has eaten too much into the state’s scarce open space, threatening to choke local roads with truck traffic and causing other environmental degradation.  

Some state lawmakers have tried to ban farmland from being used for commercial purposes. But would New Jerseyans support that prohibition? A new Fairleigh Dickinson University poll suggests the lawmakers might be on to something. Residents want lawmakers to “work with local governments to control the development of new warehouses on prime farmland, by a 62% to 26% margin, over allowing New Jersey farmers to sell their land for the construction of warehouses as long as it meets local regulations,” according to the poll.  

An accompanying press release Monday quoted Ryck Suydam, president of the New Jersey Farm Bureau on the issue: “Development pressure on farmland has evolved from primarily one of residential housing to newer issues like warehouses and grid scale solar panels. It requires a new look at land use rules and farm preservation priorities,” Suydam said. The poll also shows strong support (62%) of state-funded incentives for farmers who adopt carbon-saving measures to help fight climate change; some 26% said they oppose such an initiative. And 88% said it is important to buy locally farmed goods.