Prison farm


A prison farm is a large correctional facility where penal labor convicts are forced to work on a farm, usually for manual labor, largely in open air, such as in agriculture, logging, quarrying, and mining. The concepts of prison farm and labor camp overlap. The historical equivalent on a very large scale was called a penal colony.
The agricultural goods produced by prison farms are generally used primarily to feed the prisoners themselves and other wards of the state, and secondarily, to be sold for whatever profit the state may be able to obtain.
In addition to being forced to labor directly for the government on a prison farm or in a penal colony, inmates may be forced to do farm work for private enterprises by being farmed out through the practice of convict leasing to work on private agricultural lands or related industries. The party purchasing their labor from the government generally does so at a steep discount from the cost of free labor.
Depending on the prevailing doctrine on judicial punishment and penal harm, psychological and/or physical cruelty may be a conscious intent of prison farm labor, and not just an inevitable but unintended collateral effect.
Louisiana State Penitentiary is the largest prison farm covering, and is bordered on three sides by the Mississippi River.

Other prison industries

Convicts may also be leased for non-agricultural work, either directly to state entities, or to private industry. For example, prisoners may make license plates under contract to the state Department of Motor Vehicles, work in textile or other state run factories, or may perform data processing for outside firms. These laborers are typically considered to be a part of prison industries and not prison farms.

In the United States (partial list)

StateFacilityType of work
AlabamaDraper Correctional FacilityFarming
AlabamaG.K. Fountain Correctional FacilityCattle and Agricultural Operations, and Vegetable Gardens
AlabamaLimestone Correctional FacilityCattle and Farming
AlaskaPoint MacKenzie Correctional FarmHogs, Cattle, Turkeys, and Chickens, Produce Operations, and Hydroponics Program
ArkansasCummins UnitHorse and Agricultural Operations
ArkansasEast Arkansas Regional UnitFarming
ArkansasGrimes UnitAgricultural Gardening Program
ArkansasNorth Central UnitGarden and Forage Production
ArkansasOuachita River UnitLivestock and Forage Production, Gravel Harvesting
ArkansasPine Bluff UnitHorse operation
ArkansasTucker UnitAgricultural Operations
ArkansasWrightsville UnitHorse Operations, Agricultural Operations
CaliforniaCalifornia State Prison, CorcoranDairy/Milk Processing
CaliforniaCentral California Women's FacilityFarming
CaliforniaValley State PrisonFarming
CaliforniaWasco State PrisonFarming
ColoradoBuena Vista Correctional ComplexFish Hatchery
ColoradoFour Mile Correctional CenterDairy, Wild Horse Inmate Program
ColoradoRifle Correctional CenterTimber
ColoradoSkyline Correctional CenterFish Hatchery, Farming, Vineyard, Goat and Water Buffalo Dairy, Mountain Sheep
FloridaApalachee Correctional Institution, West Unit / P.R.I.D.E.Beef Cattle, Lumber, Agricultural
FloridaCharlotte Correctional Institution / P.R.I.D.E.Citrus
FloridaUnion Correctional Institution / P.R.I.D.E.Beef Cattle, Lumber
GeorgiaArrendale State PrisonCattle and Swine, Hay Farming
GeorgiaDooly State PrisonFarm Services
GeorgiaMontgomery State PrisonPoultry and Egg Production
GeorgiaRogers State PrisonDairy, Beef Cattle, Swine, Farming
GeorgiaWashington State PrisonFarming
HawaiiHalawa Correctional Facility / Hawaii Correctional IndustriesFarming
HawaiiWaiawa Correctional FacilityFarming
LouisianaLouisiana State Penitentiary Farming
MississippiMississippi State Penitentiary / Mississippi Prison Agricultural EnterprisesFarming
MississippiSouth Mississippi Correctional Institution / Mississippi Prison Agricultural EnterprisesFarming
North CarolinaCaledonia Correctional Institution Farming and Cannery
North CarolinaDan River Prison Work FarmFarming
North CarolinaTyrrell Prison Work FarmFarming
TexasGeorge Beto Unit Farming, Cow/Calf Operations, Poultry Laying Operations, Pork Processing, and Swine Farrowing etc.
TexasDolph Briscoe UnitFarming
TexasJames "Jay" H. Byrd Unit Hay Production
TexasClemens UnitBeef Cattle, Farming, Swine Finishing
TexasWilliam P. Clements Unit Beef Processing
TexasH. H. Coffield Unit Farming, Cow/Calf Operations, Poultry Laying Operations, Pork Processing, and Swine Farrowing etc.
TexasChristina Melton Crain Unit Farming, Swine Finishing
TexasPrice Daniel UnitFarming
TexasDarrington UnitFarming, Cow/Calf Operations, Egg Operations, and Swine Finishing Operations
TexasEastham UnitCow/Calf Operations, Egg Operations, Farming, and Swine Operations
TexasO.B. Ellis Unit Cotton Gin, Cow/Calf Operations, Farming, and Swine Operations
TexasW. J. "Jim" Estelle Unit Cotton Gin, Cow/Calf Operations, Farming, and Swine Operations
TexasJim Ferguson Unit Farming, Bull Management, and Swine Operations
TexasGlen Ray Goodman Transfer FacilityHay Production
TexasThomas Goree Unit Horse Breeding
TexasJoe F. Gurney Transfer Facility Farming, Cow/Calf Operations, Poultry Laying Operations, Pork Processing, and Swine Farrowing etc.
TexasHilltop UnitFarming, Swine Finishing
TexasWilliam P. Hobby Unit Farming and Peach Orchard
TexasReverend C.A. Holliday Transfer Facility Farming, Egg Operations, Swine Operations, Horse Breeding Operations, and Veterinary Services
TexasAlfred D. Hughes Unit Farming, Swine Finishing
TexasBeauford H. Jester I Unit Swine Finishing, Mechanical Shop, and Combine Shed
TexasBeauford H. Jester III Unit Swine Finishing, Mechanical Shop, and Combine Shed
TexasClyde M. Johnston UnitHay Production
TexasO.L. Luther UnitCow/Calf Operations, Farming, Swine Operations, and Buffalo Ranch
TexasMark W. Michael Unit Farming, Cow/Calf Operations, Poultry Laying Operations, Pork Processing, and Swine Farrowing etc.
TexasMountain View UnitFarming, Swine Finishing
TexasDr. Lane Murray Unit Farming, Swine Finishing
TexasNathaniel J. Neal UnitBeef Processing
TexasWallace Pack Unit Cow/Calf Operations, Farming, Swine Operations, and Buffalo Ranch
TexasAllan B. Polunsky Unit Tree Farm
TexasLouis C. Powledge Unit Farming, Cow/Calf Operations, Poultry Laying Operations, Pork Processing, and Swine Farrowing etc.
TexasW. F. Ramsey Unit Farming, Cow/Calf Operations, Cotton Gin, Farm Shop, Vegetable Cannery, Grain Storage, Swine Operations, and Alfalfa Dehydrator
TexasWayne Scott Unit Cow/Calf Operations, Egg Operations, Swine Operations, Farming, Farm Shop, and Grain Storage
TexasA.M. "Mac" Stringfellow Unit Farming, Cow/Calf Operations, Cotton Gin, Farm Shop, Vegetable Cannery, Grain Storage, Swine Operations, and Alfalfa Dehydrator
TexasBarry B. Telford Unit Cow/Calf Operations and Farming
TexasC.T. Terrell Unit Farming, Cow/Calf Operations, Cotton Gin, Farm Shop, Vegetable Cannery, Grain Storage, Swine Operations, and Alfalfa Dehydrator
TexasCarol S. Vance Unit Swine Finishing, Mechanical Shop, and Combine Shed
TexasDaniel Webster Wallace UnitHay Production
TexasJohn M. Wynne Unit Farming, Egg Operations, Swine Operations, Horse Breeding Operations, and Veterinary Services

In Canada

Legal framework

The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which ended slavery, specifically perpetuated the concept of penal servitude – i.e., free labor as a punishment for a crime.
Britain had a long history of penal servitude even prior to the passage of the Penal Servitude Act of 1853, and routinely used convict labor to settle its conquests, either through penal colonies or by selling convicts to settlers to serve as slaves for a term of years as indentured servants.

Scope

This type of penal institution has mainly been implanted in rural regions of vast countries. For example, the following passage describes the prison system of the U.S. state of North Carolina in the early twentieth century:
"The state prison is at Raleigh, although most of the convicts are distributed upon farms owned and operated by the state. The lease system does not prevail, but the farming out of convict labor is permitted by the constitution; such labor is used chiefly for the building of railways, the convicts so employed being at all times cared for and guarded by state officials. A reformatory for white youth between the ages of seven and sixteen, under the name of the Stonewall Jackson Manual Training and Industrial School, was opened at Concord in 1909, and in March 1909 the Foulk Reformatory and Manual Training School for negro youth was provided for. Charitable and penal institutions are under the supervision of a Board of Public Charities, appointed by the governor for a period of six years, the terms of the different members expiring in different years. Private institutions for the care of the insane, idiots, feeble-minded and inebriates may be established, but must be licensed and regulated by the state board and become legally a part of the system of public charities."

In 21st-century Illinois, several prisons continue to run farms to produce food for wards of the state, including the prisoners themselves. The 1911 Britannica also reported that the state of Rhode Island had a farm of in the southern part of Cranston City housing :
"the state prison, the Providence county jail, the state workhouse and the house of correction, the state almshouse, the state hospital for the insane, the Sockanosset school for boys, and the Oaklawn school for girls, the last two being departments of the state reform school."

There are prison farms in other countries. Canada had six prison farms, where up to 800 inmates did everything from tending pigs to milking cows until they were closed in 2010 by the Conservative government. In 2015, the Liberal government began conducting feasibility studies to determine if the program can be restarted. In 2018, the Liberal government announced plans to reopen 2 of the prison farms previously closed by the end of 2019.

In fiction

Films and television shows featuring prison farms and forced prison labor: