NJ A5766

Designates the hazelnut as the official State nut of New Jersey

Recognizes Rutgers University's research and breeding program, started in 1996, which developed hazelnut varieties resistant to eastern filbert blight, a fungal disease that previously prevented commercial hazelnut cultivation outside the Pacific Northwest

Acknowledges that Rutgers released four disease-resistant hazelnut varieties in 2020 named "Raritan," "Somerset," "Monmouth," and "Hunterdon" after local geographic features and counties

Notes New Jersey is the first East Coast state to commercially grow hazelnuts, with over 30 growers planting more than 100 acres of trees in the state

Highlights the economic significance of hazelnuts as part of a multi-billion-dollar global industry, with U.S. production currently concentrated almost exclusively in Oregon's Willamette Valley