Agriculture drying up in N.H. corrections

The women spend three mornings a week preserving their small garden, the last remaining vestige of agriculture within the Department of Corrections after the state’s prison farm closed last year. To find any other inmates working in vegetable beds – or milking cows for that matter – one has to drive about two hours north to North Haverill. The Grafton County Farm is the last remaining county farm in the state. “Once they pull the plug, you just don’t get them back anymore,” said Grafton County Farm manager Donnie Kimball. “It’s sad when they leave, you know.” Tight economics, combined with a decreasing demand for farm skills, has led to the loss of agrarian opportunities for the state’s incarcerated population. But for the few agriculture programs that are still here, inmates and officials said the benefits persist.