Product Code Database
A prison farm (also known as a penal farm) is a large correctional facility where penal labor convicts work legally or illegally on a farm (in the wide sense of a productive unit), usually for manual labor, largely in the open air, such as in agriculture, logging, quarrying, and mining. In the United States, such forced labor is made legal by the thirteenth amendment to the Constitution; however, some other parts of the world have made penal labor illegal. The concepts of prison farm and labor camp overlap, with the idea that the prisoners are forced to work. 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 (residents of orphanages, asylums, etc.), 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 lease to work on private agricultural lands or related industries (fishing, lumbering, etc.). The party purchasing their labor from the government generally does so at a steep discount from the market labor cost.
Louisiana State Penitentiary is the largest prison farm covering ; it is bordered on three sides by the Mississippi River.
Canada had six federal prison farms, which were closed in 2010. In 2019, two of the farms have been gradually reopened.
The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibited the use of slavery and involuntary servitude but explicitly exempts those who have been convicted of a crime. In response to this, the southern state legislatures implemented "Black Codes", which were laws that explicitly applied to African-Americans and subjected them to criminal prosecution for minor offenses like breaking curfew, loitering, and not carrying proof of employment. These new laws led to more prisoners for the penal system that could all be leased by the state so that it can use their labor for profit. Widespread convict leasing ended by World War II, but the loopholes in the 13th Amendment still permit the use of prisoners to work without pay.
| Farming |
| Cattle and Agricultural Operations, and Vegetable Gardens |
| Cattle and Farming |
| Hogs, Cattle, Turkeys, and Chickens, Produce Operations, and Hydroponics Program |
| Horse and Agricultural Operations Cummins Unit. (2011). Retrieved June 9,2015 |
| Farming East Arkansas Regional Unit. (2011). Retrieved June 9,2015 |
| Agricultural Gardening Program Grimes Unit. (2011). Retrieved June 9,2015 |
| Garden and Forage Production North Central Unit. (2011). Retrieved June 9,2015 |
| Livestock and Forage Production, Gravel Harvesting Ouachita River Unit. (2011). Retrieved June 9,2015 |
| Horse operation Pine Bluff Unit. (2011). Retrieved June 9,2015 |
| Agricultural Operations Tucker Unit. (2011). Retrieved June 9,2015 |
| Horse Operations, Agricultural Operations Wrightsville Unit. (2011). Retrieved June 9,2015 |
| Dairy/Milk Processing |
| Farming |
| Farming |
| Farming |
| BVCC - Buena Vista Correctional Complex >Department of Corrections. (n.d.). Retrieved June 9, 2015 |
| FMCC - Four Mile Correctional Center >Department of Corrections. (n.d.). Retrieved June 9, 2015 |
| RCC - Rifle Correctional Center >Department of Corrections. (n.d.). Retrieved June 9, 2015 |
| SCC - Skyline Correctional Center >Department of Corrections. (n.d.). Retrieved June 9, 2015 |
| Beef Cattle, Lumber, Agricultural |
| Citrus |
| Beef Cattle, Lumber |
| Cattle and Swine, Hay Farming |
| Farm Services |
| Poultry and Egg Production |
| Dairy, Beef Cattle, Swine, Farming |
| Farming |
| Farming |
| Farming |
| Farming |
| Farming |
| Farming |
| Farming and Cannery |
| Farming |
| Farming |
| Farming, Cow/Calf Operations, Poultry Laying Operations, Pork Processing, and Swine Farrowing etc. |
| Farming |
| Hay Production |
| Beef Cattle, Farming, Swine Finishing |
| Beef Processing |
| Farming, Cow/Calf Operations, Poultry Laying Operations, Pork Processing, Swine Farrowing etc. |
| Farming, Swine Finishing |
| Farming |
| Farming, Cow/Calf Operations, Egg Operations, and Swine Finishing Operations |
| Cow/Calf Operations, Egg Operations, Farming, and Swine Operations |
| Cotton Gin, Cow/Calf Operations, Farming, and Swine Operations |
| Cotton Gin, Cow/Calf Operations, Farming, and Swine Operations |
| Farming, Bull Management, and Swine Operations |
| Hay Production |
| Horse Breeding |
| Farming, Cow/Calf Operations, Poultry Laying Operations, Pork Processing, and Swine Farrowing etc. |
| Farming, Swine Finishing |
| Farming and Peach Orchard |
| Farming, Egg Operations, Swine Operations, Horse Breeding Operations, and Veterinary Services |
| Farming, Swine Finishing |
| Swine Finishing, Mechanical Shop, and Combine Shed |
| Swine Finishing, Mechanical Shop, and Combine Shed |
| Hay Production |
| Cow/Calf Operations, Farming, Swine Operations, and Buffalo Ranch |
| Farming, Cow/Calf Operations, Poultry Laying Operations, Pork Processing, and Swine Farrowing etc. |
| Farming, Swine Finishing |
| Farming, Swine Finishing |
| Beef Processing |
| Cow/Calf Operations, Farming, Swine Operations, and Buffalo Ranch |
| Tree Farm |
| Farming, Cow/Calf Operations, Poultry Laying Operations, Pork Processing, and Swine Farrowing etc. |
| Farming, Cow/Calf Operations, Cotton Gin, Farm Shop, Vegetable Cannery, Grain Storage, Swine Operations, and Alfalfa Dehydrator |
| Cow/Calf Operations, Egg Operations, Swine Operations, Farming, Farm Shop, and Grain Storage |
| Farming, Cow/Calf Operations, Cotton Gin, Farm Shop, Vegetable Cannery, Grain Storage, Swine Operations, and Alfalfa Dehydrator |
| Cow/Calf Operations and Farming |
| Farming, Cow/Calf Operations, Cotton Gin, Farm Shop, Vegetable Cannery, Grain Storage, Swine Operations, and Alfalfa Dehydrator |
| Swine Finishing, Mechanical Shop, and Combine Shed |
| Hay Production |
| Farming, Egg Operations, Swine Operations, Horse Breeding Operations, and Veterinary Services |
The debate as to whether or not the farms should reopen continued, particularly through a group called Save our Prison Farms (SOPF) who, according to their website, advocated for saving the prison farms because of 1) public safety, 2) health and rehabilitation, 3) saving taxpayers money, 4) sustainable local farm and food systems, and 5) a model of Canadian values and heritage.
In 2018, however, the federal Liberal government announced the re-opening of the Penitentiary Farm Program with a budget of $4.3 million for the two farms in Kingston, Ontario to return. The prison farms at Joyceville Institution and Collins Bay Institution are now open and working.
Britain had a long history of penal servitude even before passage of the Penal Servitude Act 1853 (16 & 17 Vict. c. 99), and routinely used convict labor to settle its conquests, either through penal colonies or by selling convicts to settlers to serve for a term of years as indentured servants.
"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 (and presumably taking labor from):
"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."
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