As state faces serious issues, senators turn to the hazelnut for official recognition.
TRENTON, N.J. – In the midst of budget pressures, infrastructure debates, and affordability concerns, New Jersey lawmakers are devoting time this week to an unexpected topic: naming an official state nut. A new bill introduced by Senator Andrew Zwicker (D–16) would designate the hazelnut as the State nut of New Jersey, citing both scientific innovation and economic promise behind the crop’s development.
Zwicker, who represents parts of Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, and Somerset counties, sponsored the measure in recognition of Rutgers University’s decades-long research to establish a commercially viable hazelnut industry in the Garden State. “It’s about more than a symbol,” Zwicker said in a statement introducing the bill. “This represents New Jersey’s innovation, science, and agriculture working together.”
The legislation highlights that Rutgers began breeding disease-resistant hazelnut varieties in 1996, overcoming the eastern filbert blight—a fungal disease that historically wiped out commercial hazelnut crops outside of the Pacific Northwest. After more than two decades of research, the university released its first successful varieties in 2020, named “Raritan,” “Somerset,” “Monmouth,” and “Hunterdon” to honor their New Jersey roots.
Today, more than 30 growers have planted over 100 acres of hazelnut trees across the state, marking the first significant East Coast production of the crop. Lawmakers say the new designation would honor Rutgers’ agricultural breakthroughs and spotlight a growing sector within New Jersey’s farm economy.
A scientific success story for Rutgers researchers
The bill notes that the hazelnut is part of a global multibillion-dollar industry dominated by growers in Turkey and Italy, with the United States accounting for only five percent of production—mostly from Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Rutgers’ disease-resistant trees could change that equation, potentially giving New Jersey a foothold in a lucrative market driven by demand for nut butters, candies, and baked goods.
Senator Zwicker’s proposal frames the move as both symbolic and strategic, linking the official state nut designation to agricultural innovation and sustainability. Rutgers’ research team, led by plant biologists and geneticists, has already begun distributing seedlings to commercial farms in several New Jersey counties.
From lighthearted lawmaking to local pride
While the bill adds a touch of humor to the legislative calendar, supporters argue that symbolic designations like a state nut can promote agricultural education and state identity. New Jersey already has an official bird (the Eastern Goldfinch), flower (the violet), and fruit (the blueberry). Adding a state nut, backers say, continues the tradition of celebrating local science and agriculture.
Critics, however, have noted the timing of the measure, questioning whether lawmakers should be focusing on such symbolic gestures while major issues—including housing affordability, tax reform, and infrastructure investment—remain unresolved. But proponents counter that the bill costs nothing and highlights one of New Jersey’s scientific success stories.
Hazelnuts poised to become New Jersey’s newest icon
If enacted, the bill would take effect immediately, making the hazelnut the official State nut. Supporters hope the move will draw attention to a growing agricultural niche and bolster local producers who have invested in the crop since Rutgers’ breakthrough.
For now, the proposal has sparked both smiles and curiosity in Trenton—a reminder that even amid serious policymaking, New Jersey’s lawmakers occasionally find time to celebrate the state’s roots, branches, and, in this case, its nuts.