By Joyce Kryszak
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Buffalo, NY – The state department of corrections is getting out of the prison farm business. The state has ended its successful prisoner rehabilitation program to squeeze a little bit more money out the troubled state budget.
More than 2,000 acres of prime farm land across the state is up for lease. There are twelve farms in all, including one run by the Wyoming County Correctional Facility in Attica.
The prisoners there raise beef and dairy cows to feed the inmates. The rest is sold for commercial use. The farm is productive - and a successful retraining tool. Prisoners work hard and learn the value of a good day's work. But Correctional Services spokesman Erik Kriss said the state wasn't exactly getting rich in the farm business. The farms lose about $3.4 million every year.
He said security is the biggest cost with operating the farms. Kriss said the prisoners who run them are, after all, criminals not farmers by trade. And he said the re-entry program might teach them some new skills - but not necessarily ones they can use after they are released. The majority of inmates come from and return to urban areas.
The land will be leased to farmers. The animals from the Wyoming facility will go to the State University of New York at Alfred. But Kriss said closing down the farms will be a gradual process.
The state does not know how much money will be brought in from the leased land. Kriss said the corrections department is not really expecting to make a lot. But he said the money saved will allow the state to make a small dent in the massive budget gap. And it preserves the properties as active farmland.
Anyone interested in leasing the land can call the department of corrections for information. Bid proposals will be accepted until April 16.
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