Prison farm lifting inmates' skills, confidence

The massive eucalyptus tree at the gate gives the impression of being the sole guard as you enter the Otago Corrections Milton prison dairy farm.

Once down the nondescript driveway, this visitor's impression of the farm itself is that it is stunningly neat and tidy.

There is no rubbish, sheds are pristine, vegetation is groomed and small groups of men are at work - some wearing bright overalls and others supervising.

The scene could be from any farm, but in the distance, the huge concrete prison wall indicates it is not.

This farm is run by the Corrections Inmate Employment (CIE) scheme,and in three years is footing it with any well-run dairy farm, evident from its two milk-quality awards from Fonterra last season.

CIE southern farms manager Allan Gorton said the awards for high milk quality (a low somatic cell count) were tributes to the farm instructors and prisoners.

Up to 16 inmates a day could work on the farm, Mr Gorton said.

Last year, 77 spent time working there.

"We were continually training somebody new," he said.

It had become a daily ritual for prisoners to check the cell count after the tanker had collected the milk, such was the pride they took in their work, he said.

The farm is run as a commercial venture and also as a training facility for prisoners before release.

In conjunction with daily farm work, inmates are offered training through the Agriculture Industry Training Organisation.

Last season 75 prisoners gained 283 unit standards in a variety of courses. For some these were their first qualifications.

The credits were earned for courses as diverse as animal health, animal handling, chainsaw safety, Grow Safe and tractor and all-terrain vehicle driving.

Mr Gorton said he knew of seven men who were now working on dairy farms as a result of training at the Milton property. Others had jobs in related farm industries.

Many in this large, transient workforce had never worked on a farm before, Mr Gorton said. Achieving high-quality milk standards despite this was a credit to the instructors, as was only one cow having to be treated for lameness last season.