The basic story that I heard quite a few times last week is that Iowa is the number nine turkey producer nationwide and the number five processor of turkey in the country. According to this article that I found we produce about 11 million birds each year in the state! But, the thing that article says, and all the radio stories I heard said was that when you sat down for your turkey dinner you wouldn't be eating an Iowa produced bird (unless of course you purchased your turkey directly from the farmers). It seems that almost all of Iowa's turkey meat ends up in sub sandwiches at Subway or Jimmy John's.
I'm not an economist, I'm not a financial guru, in fact I'm not even an intelligent agricultural guy! So, I understand that maybe I have no reason to even think about this sort of thing and that there is probably some large answer that I could not completely understand. In fact according to this flyer from the Iowa Turkey Federation there are 85 turkey producers in Iowa (it may not be a real up-to-date flyer) and I always think it's a good thing to have more farmers in Iowa!
But, I just have to ask the question ... If we produce 11 million birds each year in our own state and we have multiple turkey processors, then why can't we purchase an Iowa raised and processed turkey for Thanksgiving dinner? That was just the thought that kept running through my head ...
With all that being said ... as long as there are no set-backs and I feel like we are set up enough to get things going we are planning on raising a limited number of heritage breed turkeys next year. I see it as another opportunity to bring a bit more diversification to the farm ... and to have a great tasting bird for Thanksgiving dinner!
3 comments:
I might be wrong, but the way I understand it, the whole bird market for turkeys is a small part of the turkey market and sort of seasonal, so the raising and processing of whole turkeys (usually the hens) is done in a few areas.
And, the majority of turkeys raised are used for ground turkey, sandwich meats, etc., and are from much larger birds (35-40 lb.toms).
One time, I raised about 6 straight-run broad-breasted turkeys (they were the bronze broad-breasted variety) and got pretty good birds out of the effort. They weren't heritage birds, but they were trouble free to raise, the hens ended up about 20 lb., the toms were almost 30 lb., and they all tasted better than a typical store bought bird.
I've always thought that there might be a market for a broad-breasted turkey like that since it is closer to what people are used to eating, and is something that you can't find in the store easily.
Yum! I bet our turkey next year will be as delicious as our Crooked Gap Christmas ham!
I'm sure you're right Rich ... or at least there's something like that. Still ... that doesn't mean it makes the most sense, but I'm contrarian by nature and becoming more so all the the time ;)
As far as raising turkey ... we'll probably start out raising them next year for our whole/half hog customers and then expand as needed.
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