Public records show Donald Trump qualifies for a New Jersey farmland tax break, according to a report.
TRENTON -- Donald Trump reportedly gets a tax break in New Jersey thanks to a pair of unexpected sources: goats and hay on his Garden State golf courses.
Public records show the billionaire businessman and Republican presidential front-runner qualifies for a New Jersey farmland tax break because he utilizes a small goat herd, hay farming, and wood cutting at golf clubs he owns in the state, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
That saves Trump tens of thousands of dollars a year in property taxes on two of his three New Jersey courses, in Bedminster and Colts Neck, the report said.
The Journal estimates that the real estate mogul pays fewer than $1,000 in taxes a year on land that would otherwise carry annual taxes of about $80,000, according to property values listed on the state's website.
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Records show his Bedminster course has eight goats and 113 acres of hay production, while his Colts Neck course has 40 acres of hay and clusters of trees, according to the report.
Trump, though, isn't the only wealthy New Jersey taxpayer to benefit from the state's farmland assessment program -- a 1963 addition to the state Constitution that aimed to prevent the most densely populated state in the nation from becoming overdeveloped and to help farmers avoid soaring property taxes.
Former U.S. Rep. Jon Runyan received the break for selling firewood and grazing donkeys. Rockers Jon Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen got it for raising honeybees and leasing land to an organic farmer, respectively.
But New Jersey environmentalist Jeff Tittel said that doesn't make it right.
"Here's a guy who is one of richest men in the world -- he says so anyway -- who is hiding behind a farmland assessment to get a massive tax break on a golf course," Tittel, the director of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club, told NJ Advance Media. "A golf course no matter how you slice it is not a farm."
"What he's doing is having goats cut the grass and get a tax write-off," the environmentalist added.
Tittel called it a "pretty significant tax giveaway" -- especially because it reportedly costs more than $100,000 to join the private clubs.
Trump's campaign did not immediately return a message from NJ Advance Media seeking comment.
Trump, who also once owned three casinos in Atlantic City, is vying to win the GOP nomination outright by securing 1,237 delegates before the Republican National Convention in July. If he doesn't reach that number, others can win the nod at a contested convention.
Gov. Chris Christie -- who endorsed Trump earlier this year -- said Wednesday night on his radio show that New Jersey's June 7 primary could help Trump lock down the nomination.
Polls show Trump is the heavy favorite to win the state.
Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.