Rutgers Study of Horse Industry's Economic Impact Garners Awards

NEW BRUNSWICK – A Rutgers University study showing the impact of New Jersey’s $1.1 billion horse industry has placed its authors in the winner’s circle.

The study assessing the industry’s effect on state coffers is among three recipients of the 2007 Award of Excellence from the Northeast Cooperative Extension Directors, the highest honor the organization bestows.

Researchers from the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station/Rutgers Cooperative Extension and the Rutgers Equine Science Center prepared the report, which competed for the award against a dozen other programs from Maine to West Virginia.

The Experiment Station provides a range of research and educational programs designed to serve residents of the state in urban, suburban and rural communities.

Paul Gottlieb, the study’s principal investigator and associate professor in the Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Economics at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, and Diana Orban Brown, director of communications for the Equine Science Center, accepted the award for the team on July 14.

The awards presentation took place in Bethesda, Md., at the Northeast Summer Joint Session of Cooperative Extension directors, Experiment Station directors and members of the Council for Agricultural Research, Extension and Teaching.

The goal of the 12-month study was to provide a comprehensive look at the impact of the horse industry on the economy of the Garden State, on traditional agriculture and on the preservation of working farms and open space.

According to Gottlieb, the results showed nearly 13,000 people work in the state’s horse industry, generating an economic impact of $1.1 billion annually including an estimated $160 million annually in local, state and federal taxes. Moreover, 142,000 acres of working agricultural open space support equine-related activities. This results in maintained open space at no cost to the state, municipalities or taxpayers.

Karyn Malinowski, director of the Equine Science Center and leader of the team conducting the study, said, “The research confirmed the importance of the equine presence in New Jersey, especially as more farms engaged in other forms of agriculture – dairy, beef or field crops, for example – convert to horse farms.”

In addition to Malinowski, Gottlieb and Orban Brown, team members contributing to the report included Brian Schilling, associate director of the Food Policy Institute, and Kevin Sullivan, institutional research specialist for the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station.

Sponsors also included the state Department of Agriculture and its Equine Advisory Board and Sire Stakes units; the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority; the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey; the Thoroughbred Breeders Association of New Jersey, and several private individuals.

The study is available online at http://esc.rutgers.edu/news_more/PDF_Files/2007_Equine_Economic_Impact_Study_Report.pdf