Old Turkeys Find New Markets

Old Turkeys Find New Markets AG WORLD 28-2-24 Old-time turkey breeds are gaining in popularity and value as consumers realize that not all birds are created equal. Breeders like Frank Reese, Lindsborg, Kan., see the growing market as a new chance for the old breeds of turkeys like his "standard bronze." "I am trying really hard to save these breeds from extinction," explains Reese who is active with the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy and the American Turkey Growers Association. "To do that, we have to find a market again and people willing to take the time to become heritage breed farmers and raise these birds." The standard bronze breed was the most popular turkey in the U.S. until modern commercial turkeys were developed in the 1940's. The new breeds were faster growing, more efficient, white feathered, big breasted and had to be artificially inseminated. The older breeds were nearly eliminated even though most people say they're superior in taste, if not efficiency. "There is a difference in the meat, not so much the taste as the texture and a little more dark meat," he explains. "When you slice the breast, it will hold together and be very firm. If you take a yearling and butcher it, it will have a beautiful natural layer of fat." Properly marketed, the old breeds can sell for as much as $4 per pound. Even at that price, Reese warns it's not a get rich quick deal. "It takes me 24 to 30 weeks to get my turkeys to market size compared to half that for commercial white turkeys," he explains. "I feed organic grain that costs twice as much as commercial grain and processing costs at least twice as much, too." Reese raised 3,000 turkeys in 2003. He processed and sold nearly 2,000 head and kept the rest for breeding stock. While Reese doesn't market his birds as organic, he won't use medications unless needed to keep them alive. They live on pasture during the day and roost in turkey sheds at night. The free-range aspect is important to how he markets birds but it also increases his risk. "People seem most concerned about how my turkeys are treated and raised," he says. But a free-range farmer can lose half his flock or more overnight due to disease or even freezing rain. Of course, Reese notes that free-range turkeys seldom suffer from the thyroid, aneurysm and autoimmune diseases of their barn-raised counterparts. While a commercial turkey producer will expect from 5 to 15 percent or more loss in transit, Reese lost only one bird out of 1,500 he shipped to Ohio for processing this past fall. The turkey breeder advises people interested in raising heritage turkeys to start out with eggs and hatch their own to build localized immunity. Next best is to buy poults from a nearby breeder. Reese suggests buying from a reputable breeder to get high quality birds, not to mention helpful information. Most of all, you want to do your homework first. "Find out if you have a market, where it is and who will buy your birds," he warns. "How far is a processor? What are the federal and state requirements if you sell across state lines or to restaurants?" Most of all, be sure you like raising turkeys. Reese points out that these old breeds are not stupid. "They can jump and fly and will follow you anywhere," he says. "They can flatten a 10 acre field of grass down to the ground, and owls, coons, possums and coyotes all like to eat them." Of growing concern to him is that many assume any dark turkey is a standard breed - heritage turkey. "Just because they have dark feathers, doesn't mean they are a standard turkey breed," he warns. "You can order bronze turkeys from a hatchery and find out the chicks are bronze, but the hens were white commercial birds." Contact FARM SHOW Followup, Frank Reese, Jr., Good Shepard Ranch, 730 Smoky Valley Road, Lindsborg, Kan. 67456 (email: grst@alltel.net).

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