Get a taste of turkey farming
Brothers are next to cousins, aunts are next to grandpas, and mothers are next to sisters as the family gathers around the unusually large Thanksgiving table.
The table is adorned with an array of scrumptious food choices. Fluffy stuffing, candied yams, steaming mashed potatoes, smooth gravy and decadent pumpkin pie adorn the table and each smell wafts through the house.
The tantalizing turkey lies steaming in the middle of the table on a large silver platter and Dad leans in to carve the traditional bird. Now it’s out of the oven and on the table, but weeks ago, it was back in a turkey farm.
Mark Johansen from Mt. Pleasant, Utah, spends his days farming turkeys.
Johansen wakes up every morning and goes to perform his daily morning check of the birds. He takes the time to check the equipment and make sure it works properly in order to keep 20,000 turkeys thriving.
“Every morning we check for dead birds and take them and dispose of them,” Johansen said. He also walks through all the barns to check the food and water as well.
He said they have automatic feed systems in each barn, and as the turkeys peck at it and eat, they automatically refill from the 11-ton silos outside the barns. The automatic water system works in a similar way, and Johansen said they give the turkeys chlorinated water to fight off diseases.
“The turkeys never go without food or water,” Johansen said. “We also make sure that the environment is prime living conditions for them.”
Johansen said the farm uses dry shavings to keep the turkeys clean and keep dust levels down. They also have automated ventilation systems in the barns to keep the temperatures the same, 90 degrees during the day, and 40 degrees at night.
“We constantly have to make sure the vents are working. The turkeys can pile or suffocate if they aren’t what they ought to be,” Johansen said. “We never hope for those days.”
Johansen goes back throughout the day for an afternoon and evening check as well, but the number of turkey checks varies throughout the stages of the turkey’s lives.
Johansen said newborn turkeys have to be checked about every two hours during their first week of life because “it’s like housing 20,000 newborn babies.”
“We get the birds right out of the egg. They are roughly a day old before we start growing them,” Johansen said.
The farm receives nearly 20,000 turkeys at a time, but lately the cycle has been a little faster, and Johansen said he receives about 10,000 turkeys every seven weeks.
After six weeks, the turkeys are let loose into a bigger barn, where they become “like adults.” Johansen said it is critical that during this time they make sure the turkeys eat a lot of feed and so that they can turn into good meat.
He said the turkeys get processed at about 13-19 weeks, and by then the toms, or male turkeys, can weigh up to 43 pounds and the female hens can weigh about 15-16 pounds, depending on how they decide to raise them.
However, the turkeys do not get processed on Johansen’s farm. He ships the turkeys overnight in semi-trucks and trailers to the Moroni Feed Company.
“There are about 60 growers in our valley and we all own and contribute to the feed company,” Johansen said.
The Moroni Feed Company is a processing plant in Moroni, Utah, that ships the turkeys raised on Johansen’s farm throughout the Western United States. Johansen said some of their turkeys go as far as around the world.
“The grower’s side doesn’t change much around Thanksgiving,” Johansen said. “It’s not any more busy now than any other time of year.”
Johansen said Norbest, the company that sells his turkeys, gets busy around Thanksgiving time because they ship out more than three and a half million pounds of refrigerated turkey that have never been frozen.
“Turkey farming is a business that’s changed over the years. Get your costs in line or else you don’t survive,” Johansen said. “Efficiency makes all the difference.”
Johansen said things around the farm have been tight the last three years, but he enjoys it for his family. He has three boys that have grown up on the farm and said, “It’s a good way to raise a family, work hard, and see your success from working hard at the end of the day.”
Johansen said turkey farming is enjoyable but hard work.
“It is critical to manage well in order to survive and that’s all we strive to do.”
– nikki.lives6@aggiemail.usu.edu