REMBERT, S.C. (WACH, AP) -- South Carolina prisons officials say their farms cut down on inmate food costs, and now members of the media are getting a chance to see some of those facilities up close.

The state Department of Corrections is holding a media tour Monday at its Wateree River Correctional Institution in Rembert.

Reporters can tour the 7,000-acre farm's sweet potato fields, cattle pastures and a gristmill that grinds corn into grits. There's also a sneak peek at the agency's new dairy.

The 27-acre, $7 million complex of barns and milking parlors is set to open in January and will increase prison milk production to more than 2 million gallons a year.

“Farming operations at Wateree, and the dairy in particular, have over the years saved the state prison system millions of dollars it otherwise would have had to spend for the same products at a higher rate on the open market,” S.C. Corrections Director Jon Ozmint said in a release. “Expanding our dairy operations and bolstering our milk production not only creates more savings for the Corrections Department, it lessens the burden on the state’s dairy farmers who have to pay to import milk to meet the state’s demand.”

Officials say sales of extra milk will help defray the dairy's construction costs and make money to run the state's prisons.

“The new facility should also provide a first-hand look at newer technologies in milk production and could encourage new investment in the dairy industry in South Carolina,” Agriculture Commissioner Hugh Weathers said.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report).