HILLSBOROUGH: Osterman cited for agricultural service

   Nurseryman Ken Osterman was presented with a Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award on April 24 by the N.J. State Board of Agriculture for playing a major role in New Jersey’s agriculture industry over the years.
   Mr. Osterman has devoted his life to agriculture and his community. After active duty in the Marine Corps, he rejoined Osterman Nursery in Middlesex and Neshanic in 1971. At that time, the family business offered design/build landscape contracting. The 250-acre permanently preserved farm now specializes in the production of specimen-sized ornamental trees and flowering shrubs for the wholesale market.
   Mr. Osterman has been active in agriculture industry and community organizations since the 1970s. He served with distinction on the executive board of the N.J. Association of Nurserymen, now known as the N.J. Nursery and Landscape Association, for nine of his 20-plus years of membership. He chaired led the association in developing new markets for membership development, as well as wholesale and retail markets for its members.
   Mr. Osterman has served as a member of the Somerset County Board of Agriculture since 1988 with a stint as president from 1991 to 1993. He formed the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Somerset County Advisory Board in 1991 and was its first president. After 21 years of membership, he is again the president. He served on the Rutgers Food Innovation Center Advisory Board. He continues to serve on the Hillsborough Township Agricultural Advisory Committee and is a New Jersey Farm Bureau director.
   He was a member of the N.J. Agricultural Experiment Station Board of Managers from 2000 to 2006 and served as president from 2003 to 2005. He rejoined the board last year.
   He was cited for his leadership within the University and Experiment Station, searching for Cooperative Extension faculty, adding a calm voice to advisory boards and assisting in policy and legislation formulation.