A US prison says farming is no longer “meaningful” work for inmates

The cows are being put to pasture—forever.  The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections is preparing to end a program that puts convicts to work alongside state farm employees to maintain animals and gardens. The program is being slashed to make more room for “more meaningful career training opportunities,” the prison system said. But not everyone agrees with that logic.  At least 50 state employees will lose their jobs as the program is phased out, which has rankled the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association. The group has organized several protests outside prisons and at auction sites where state cattle are being sold.