- Sarah Seitz
- Nov 27, 2023
- 3 min read
When we think about all the food we had around our table on Thanksgiving Day, for many of us, turkey was the main meat on our plate. While many turkey farmers produce our Thanksgiving turkeys, that isn't always the case! Let's take a deep dive into a local turkey farm and how they raise their turkeys for lunch meat.
Poults (baby turkeys), hatch in a hatchery and are delivered to the farm when they are just one day old. Most turkeys are raised in large barns like pictured here. Turkey barns help to ensure that the birds are safe from predators, disease, and harsh weather. When the poults first come into the barn the temperature is set to 93 degrees to keep them warm; kind of like a newborn baby! These barns are equipped with automated feeders and waterers that provide them with constant food and water.
Farmers take biosecurity measures very seriously in order to keep their flock from getting sick. Visitors may have to dress in a PPE suit, wear plastic boots, or even sign their name in a logbook to help keep track of who has entered the barn. They also must care for the barn in between flocks to prevent the spread of germs from one flock to the next. Farmers keep each flock between 19 and 20 weeks on their farm. This means that a farmer will have multiple flocks of turkeys within the year. Before a new flock can arrive on the farm, farmers must sanitize the barns by cleaning all of the walls and floors, removing all the bedding, and cleaning all waterers and feeders.
Once the turkeys become of market weight, they are ready to go to the processing plant. Farmers and truck drivers work carefully to load all of the turkeys safely onto the trailer in order to minimize stress on the birds. Once the birds leave the trailer, the truck driver is responsible for sanitizing it before loading a new group of animals in order to prevent the spread of possible diseases. Once they are at the processing plant, they will be made into the very meat we see in the grocery store!
As you can see, turkeys raised on farms have white feathers. However, that hasn't always been the case! Wild turkeys are brown/black in color and live outdoors in wooded forests and grassy areas. When wild turkeys are fully grown, they weigh around 20 pounds. They are not what farmers use for food production. Consumers didn't like the dark spots under the skin caused by the dark pigments in the feathers. Over time, with selective breeding, the domestic turkey came to be. Domestic turkeys are raised on farms for food production and don't leave pigment spots under the skin after the feathers are picked. Domesticated turkeys also provide far more high-quality breast meat than the wild turkey.
Southeast Iowa Turkey Producer, Jared, is a 4th generation farmer. He showed us around his barn of 2-week-old poults. On his farm he raises his turkeys to be sold and processed for sandwich meat. Turkeys processed and sold as whole birds are hens (female birds) and only weigh around 15-20 pounds at the time of processing, while toms (male birds), are processed into products like cutlets, tenderloins, sausage, and deli meats and weigh around 35-40 pounds. He is also the Founder and CEO of ChopLocal. ChopLocal is an e-commerce platform created for producers to market their livestock and meat products directly to consumers. They provide consumers with the ability to purchase meat online from family farms and butcher shops and have it delivered directly to their door.
The Iowa turkey industry is made up of about 130 farmers and their families. Most of these farmers are multi-generation turkey farmers. Iowa ranks 7th in the United States in turkey production and raises over 12 million turkeys each year. With that many turkeys to care for, the industry employs over 38,000 jobs and is responsible for as much as $10.64 billion in total economic activity throughout the state.
Turkey doesn't have to be saved for Thanksgiving! Next time you're thinking about what to make for dinner, try some lean, high-protein, great-tasting turkey!
