Home
>
Food Services,
Inmate Labor,
New Jersey > Escape Ends Prison Labor On Farm In NJ
Escape Ends Prison Labor On Farm In NJ
Three weeks after an inmate escaped from a state-run dairy farm in Somerset County, the New Jersey Department of Corrections says it plans to end its practice of using prison labor at the facility. The decision comes after local officials expressed concerns about prisoners working so close to schools and residential areas.
Skillman Farm, a 500-acre breeding farm on a rural stretch of Burnt Hill Road in Montgomery Township, is one of six dairy and crop farms run by AgriIndustries, a self-sustaining branch of the Department of Corrections that sells dairy and processed food products back to the department and other state agencies at cost-saving prices. Historically, the farm has been staffed by prisoners from the Garden State Youth Correctional Facility in Burlington County, who are bused in daily. The work is considered a perk for minimum-security prisoners who are nearing the end of their sentences … The farm work program has been a lucrative enterprise, saving the state about $1 million a year in food costs and offering a chance for prisoners to develop a work ethic before their release, AgriIndustries administrator Frank Papa said. Since the escape, however, Skillman Farm has been run by its civilian staff and the prisoners are not expected to return …
Montgomery Mayor Louise Wilson said the township has been urging the corrections department to end the prisoner work program at Skillman Farm. Though she conceded the farm has been a quiet neighbor for years, Wilson said the high-profile escape changed everything …
Papa said the breeding operation at the farm will likely be scaled back and the animals moved to other farms. The farm will continue to grow corn, alfalfa, wheat and rye used for feed and bedding for animals at other AgriIndustries farms that don’t have enough land. “We need the property,” Papa said.
vericatrajkova Food Services, Inmate Labor, New Jersey