(a) The commissioner shall manage all institutional farms, equipment, and other property to most efficiently produce food products for state institutions, support the department and its activities, advance the agricultural interests of the state, as identified by the commissioner, and otherwise implement the intent of the Legislature as set forth by this article. From the total amount of food, milk, and other commodities produced on institutional farms, the commissioner shall sell, at prevailing wholesale prices, and each of the institutions under the control of the Department of Health and Human Resources and Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall purchase, these products based on the dietary needs of each institution: Provided, That if the commissioner cannot sell sufficient food products to each institution to meet the demand created, each institution may purchase such food products from vendors who can supply those food products at the greatest savings to the taxpayers of the state.
(b) If requested by the Commissioner of the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the commissioner may authorize the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation to operate a farm or other enterprise using inmates as labor on those lands. The Commissioner of the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation is responsible for the selection, direction, and supervision of the inmates and shall, in consultation with the Commissioner of Agriculture, assign the work to be performed by inmates. The Commissioner of Agriculture may also request inmate labor to perform work on the institutional farms, and if requested, the Commissioner of the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall provide inmate labor, if available.
(c) The commissioner is hereby authorized and empowered to:
(1) Lease to public or private parties, for purposes including agricultural production or experimentation, public necessity, or other purposes, any land, easements, equipment, or other property, except that property may not be leased for any use in any manner that would render the land toxic for agricultural use, nor may toxic or hazardous materials as identified by the Commissioner of Agriculture be used or stored upon such property unless all applicable state and federal permits necessary are obtained.;