C2—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 29,1980
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' I W I "URKEY F v
Monica Zimmerman, 16, holds one of the nearly
grown female turkeys on her father's turkey farm
near East Earl. This one didn’t make it for
Thanksgiving dinner, but will make an economical
meal at some other time.
Leroy Zimmerman reads over some literature on
the turkey industry as he sits in his office at his farm
home in East Earl. Zimmerman raises over 135,000
turkeys annually.
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Thanksgiving be
without turkeys?
As you read this you probably are still eating those
delicious leftovers from your Thanksgiving turkey, a
tradition which survives from colonial days when the big
brown birds were available in the wild as a good source of
protein in the diet
The bird you just ate, however, bears little resemblance
to its colonial forebearers. For one thing, those beautiful
brown birds with multi-colored feathers are a rarity these
days because most commercial turkeys are white. Other
improvements in breeding over the years mean that you
are eating a much-improved, tastier bird than those
colonial beauties.
Leroy M. Zimmerman, East Earl R 2, has been in the
turkey business for 24 years, and presently grows about
135,000 birds annually. He says that while 99 percent of
today’s turkeys are white-feathered, the meat is the same
inside. He is also quick to point out the improvements in
the modern turkey.
A modern turkey has a widened breast which means
more of that delicious white meat Furthermore, it has
shorter legs and is generally a plumper, meatier bird than
a wild turkey Zimmerman said, "Wild turkeys have
longer legs and a wider wing spread - they are a leaner
lookmg bird. A modern turkey can’t fly They are not
designed to fly anymore, because of their frame They are
more stocky. They can sail, but they can’t fly ”
Thanksgiving is a time when everyone thinks of serving
turkey, but Zimmerman and other producers would like
consumers to think turkey more often when they plan
family meals. Zimmerman said, "Turkey is a good buy. If
you make adjustments for inflation, turkey has not gone
up as fast in price as other meats.” He noted that con
sumption is 12 percent greater this year than last, with
producers growing only seven percent more.
Consumption is slowly increasing, reaching an average
of eight pounds per capita in 1978 and 10 pounds in 1979. He
attributes the slight gam to the fact that the price has
remained steady
Turkey is a good buy, according to Zimmerman,
because "efficiency is so much better m poultry than m
cattle.” He pointed out that it takes 1 6 pounds of gram to
convert to one pound of meat in turkey, and ap
proximately 14 pounds of gram tor one pound of meat in a
These female turkeys
missed the processing
time for Thanksgiving,
but are nearing the
weight at which they will
be sent for processing
into frozen turkeys
Mr. and Mrs. Leroy
Zimmerman and their
daughter Monica pose by
the farm sign at the
entrance to their East
Earl turkey farm where
over 135,000 birds are
processed annually.
What would
BY SALLY BAIR
Staff Correspondent
steei. Fui ihermore, he noted, the yield on a turkey is 82
percent, which is fairly good compared to cattle. ”
Zimmerman noted that nutritionists are recognizing
and promoting poultry as a good source of protein and as a
good diet food
For Thanksgiving you probably purchased a whole
turkey to serve with a traditional dinner. However,
Zimmerman says that the fastest growing segment of the
turkey industry is parts "which are making a 14 percent
gam every year.”
Flam, whole turkeys now account for just 18 percent of
the market compared with 1975 when they represented 34
percent of the market "Value added” whole turkeys,
such as pre-basted turkeys, account for 24 percent of the
current market
Turkey rolls and other processed turkey products are
growing at a rate of nine percent annually, and processed
turkey meat now accounts for 35 percent of the market,
Zimmerman notes
Thanksgiving, a time of traditionally high turkey usage,
is also the time when fresh turkeys are most readily
available, and people are willing to pay a premium for
fresh turkeys. The price is highest when they are sold
fresh because of the limited processing and marketing
time.
Zimmerman recalls that when he first started in the
business, turkeys were produced only for Thanksgiving
“If we had any left over we sold them at Christmas Then
we couldn’t sell any more and the price was very
depressed We might end up with several hundred that we
couldn’t sell ”
Zimmerman said, "We began growing turkeys tor
Easter, but this was very limited ”
One of the limiting factors in turkey growing was the
fact that commercial processing of turkeys was done in
the same plants which processed chickens. This was
unsatisfactory tor many reasons, and was very inef
ficient. Eventually, Zimmerman and four other growers
began operating a plant just for processing frozen
turkeys They quickly found they couldn’t afford to run the
plant just four months of the year. Zimmerman said, "We
all produced as many as we could and we bought some
besides.” Now the plant operates year round
Zimmerman noted that up until a few years ago the
majority of birds were grown on the range, but this
limited the growing season and allowed just one tlock per
year He said, ' A lot of turkeys are still grown on the
range, but not many in Pennsylvania because of the high
land value ”
Now turkey growing is a highly automated precision
business and Zimmerman is a progressive and innovative
producer. Zimmerman grows his birds from poults which
he gets at one day of age in lots at six weeks intervals.
Females are raised to U l 2 pounds live weight, and males,
which are larger framed, to 23 pounds. They are raised on
the same basic diet with the exception that females are
put on finishing feed earlier because they mature ap
proximately two weeks earlier than males.
Modern turkeys are raised in a partially controlled
environment with fans and light tor their first eight
weeks, then moved to finishing houses.
Zimmerman grows his in three stages in a • three-stage
house” about which he says, "It seems to be the trend
right now. They start in close confinement for the first
four weeks, and then in the second stage they are moved
to an area with a little more room " The finishing houses
are the last stage and these houses have open sides,
equipped with curtains which can be used as protection
against bitter winters
The advantage of raising them this way, according to
Zimmerman, is that it offers a savings in fuel when the
houses are well-insulated. In the early stages of con
finement the houses have a 95-degree temperature, but it
can be lowered later when the birds are not so closely
confined. His most modern houses are also designed to
move the birds from one stage to the next, all under one
roof
(Turn to Page C 4)
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