20-thousand acres of rolling pasture, plus 4,000 cows, calves and bulls. They produce an endless supply of food and revenue for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.
Managing the herd is a monumental task for DOC’s Agri-Services Division.
30 year veteran Dave Fullbright is an “idea” man. He said, “If I see junk, I can make something. That’s just kind of what I do. It worked out and we just started building some. We built some for ourselves first then other farms saw them and liked them. We said we’ve got the material, we will build some for you too. That’s how this got going.”
He calls his contraption the “bed feeder." Using a little ingenuity, a stockpile of plastic drums and 50 year old abandoned bunk beds, Fullbright came up with his unique feeding trough.
Utilizing inmate labor, the agency has already built about 150 of these troughs for the Agri-Services Division.
Only $5 in materials, it’s an enormous savings. Buying new troughs would cost the agency roughly $200 each.
“Reduce reuse recycle, that’s what it’s all about, “ said Fullbright.
It’s just one of the many ways the Department of Corrects saves Oklahoma taxpayers a barrelful of green.
