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Vineland Agriculture

Agriculture has been an integral part of life and commerce in the Greater Vineland area since pre-Revolutionary times. The first farmers were the Lenni-Lenape, the Native-American tribe that inhabited southern New Jersey nearly 10,000 years ago. Villages were established close to streams and forests were burned to create open tillable fields. The Lenni-Lenape then taught the first European settlers how to grow crops.

Swedish immigrants were among the first European farmers in South Jersey, beginning to cultivate the soil in the mid 1600’s. Farming expanded in Cumberland County until 1776 when the British in the American Revolution devastated many farms. After the war ended, farms were rebuilt. Through hard work and diligence, many farmers became prosperous and respected in their communities.

In 1873 Vineland founder, Charles K. Landis, noted that the soil would also be suitable for growing grapes. In order to bring experienced grape growers to Vineland, he started the first Italian newspaper in the United States, The Echo of Italy. In this paper Landis advertised Vineland, saying he would grant 20 acres of land provided it was cleared and utilized for the growing of grapes. Many Italian and Sicilian immigrants flocked to the eastern part of Vineland, which was given the name “New Italy.” Landis built streets extending out from the main city to New Italy, naming them after the new arrivals and the cities from which they emigrated: Dante, Trento, Piacenza, Pantera, Genoa, Palermo, Venezia, Italia, and Cornocopia.

Later, poultry became a large, successful industry. Many of the Italian families raised chickens and sold surplus eggs to market in Philadelphia and New York. In 1931, an Egg Auction was formed on Delsea Drive near Park Avenue. The Egg Auction was hit by the decline of the poultry industry in the late 1960’s and the auction closed in 1973.

Today, with more than 70,000 acres of farmland, Cumberland County’s agricultural production accounts for 16% of New Jersey’s agricultural market value. The Vineland Produce Auction is the premier produce auction in the Eastern United States. Its success is paramount to the Northeast region’s agricultural industry. The Vineland cooperative consists of hundreds of member farmers and an elected board of directors. From bell peppers and yellow squash to staked tomatoes and Jersey eggplant, numerous commodities are bought and sold throughout the season. The auction handles thousands of individual transactions during the average growing season, from early April to late November year after year, which amounts to millions of packages being sold over the course of the growing season.

A celebration of spring takes place each year at the Vineland Dandelion Dinner and Dance, hosted by the Greater Vineland Chamber of Commerce. Agriculture is a multi-million dollar industry in Cumberland County, and the dandelion accounts for approximately $270,000 in sales. Though anyone with a troublesome lawn might consider themselves a dandelion grower, the dandelions now being harvested in Cumberland County are cultivated vegetables. Last year, farmers produced an estimated 30,000 bushels of dandelion. Locally grown dandelion is sold up and down the eastern seaboard and as far west as Chicago.

Known as the “Garden Spot” of the Garden State, the County boasts several agriculturally related achievements, including leading the State in the production of vegetables, melons and potatoes. Cumberland County has one of the most progressive nursery and floriculture industries in the United States, and ranks number one in greenhouse, nursery, floriculture, and sod production in the State.