Ruffled Feathers
Iowa's turkey industry grows despite alleged "fowl" play

by Matt Miller and Jared Curtis

With more than 280 million turkeys sold nationally each year around the holiday season, the bird has become more than a source of food; it has become an American tradition. And along the way, turkey production has provided employment for thousands of people, including more than 4,000 Iowans.

Ben Franklin called turkeys "true American originals" and stated his tremendous respect for their resourcefulness, intelligence, agility and beauty. Most Iowans share the appreciation for turkeys, or at least seem to enjoy eating their meat, as the industry continues to grow. But some view this growth as mismanaged, creating horrific environments for the birds as they are prepared for slaughter. We took a look at the turkey industry and share its impact here in Iowa and across the nation.

The light meat
Iowa's turkey industry is one of the most productive in the United States, generating approximately 8.54 million turkeys each year. But there is more to the industry than large confinement buildings scattered across the state's farmlands.

"The value of the turkey industry in rural Iowa is very important because it has great economical benefits for the state," said Gretta Irwin, executive director of the Iowa Turkey Federation (ITF), located in Ames. "This state has excellent farm families and the perfect system for the industry. We need to embrace and celebrate it."

Embracing it is just what family farmers around the state have done, beginning in the 1930s when farmers started raising and processing turkeys. Today, the national turkey industry has reached uncharted territory with unprecedented growth. Since the 1970s, turkey production in the United States has increased 300 percent.

"When you think about the overall positive impact that the turkey industry has on our country, and here locally, it's unbelievable," said Paul Hill, chairman of the National Turkey Federation (NTF). "The industry not only produces turkey that can then be used, it also employees hundreds, if not thousands, of people."

Companies are involved in all phases of turkey production from breeding through delivery to retail. By maintaining control over research, hatching, growing, feeding, processing, packaging, transporting and marketing, the industry is able to produce what those involved consider to be wholesome, safe, high-quality products at a low cost to the consumer. Nationally, in 2007, 547 million pounds were exported. Currently, Iowa ranks ninth in turkey production for the U.S., fifth in turkey processing and employs approximately 1,750 at four processing facilities, which are located in West Liberty, Storm Lake, Sigourney and Mount Pleasant. According to the ITF, when all direct and secondary efforts are considered, the total impact accounts for $810.7 million in sales, $158.7 million in personal income, $253.3 million in contribution to the gross state product and approximately 4,200 jobs.

"I see it as a win-win for everyone involved, and we're very excited about what we're doing right now," Hill said.

Although a lot of talk has been made about the economic benefit that the turkey industry provides, the presence of the feathery fellows is felt throughout the U.S., including reaching some of the nation's most prominent people and places.

Since the first presentation of the National Thanksgiving Turkey to President Harry Truman in 1947, the NTF has continued a long-standing tradition of participating in the event. On Nov. 19, the Hill family presented President George W. Bush with the bird, which signaled the unofficial start of the holiday season and provided the president an opportunity to reflect publicly on the meaning of Thanksgiving.

"This being the 61st anniversary of the tradition is special," said Hill, whose son and grandsons help
raise the bird that will go to Washington, D.C. "It's been a life-long goal of mine to have this privilege to go to the White House with my family and present the bird to the president."

The goal of having such an honor began in 1948 when Paul's father, Hubert, began raising turkeys on the family farm. Every year since, the Hill family has raised commercial turkeys and contine to be a significant owner of West Liberty Foods, a leading co-packer and private label manufacturer.

"It's very unique for me personally," Hill said. "It brings national attention to the industry and what we're doing in Iowa."

Iowa's turkey production is not only felt on the steps of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., but all across the country. Turkey officials report that consumption has doubled over the past 30 years, propelled by efforts like the Iowa Turkey Growers Cooperative (ITGC), which is a major supplier of foodservice retail. A growing number of consumers are also realizing the nutritional value, backed by people consuming turkey year-round, not just during the holidays. According to www.iowaturkey.com, U.S. consumption is expected be approximately 18 pounds per person this year. Iowaturkey.com also proclaims turkey is lean meat that is low in fat and has Vitamin B6, important for energy production, and selenium, a trace mineral that is a key component in DNA repair and synthesis in damaged cells.

Hy-Vee, Inc., which sells both frozen turkeys and heat-and-serve holiday dinners, is helping consumers enjoy those 18 pounds each year.

"The traditional frozen turkey still sells very well," said Greg Frampton, assistant vice president of food service for Hy-Vee, Inc. "But we started creating complete holiday dinners, which we can customize to the customer's liking."

Frampton says Hy-Vee will sell an estimated 17,000 holiday dinners, which are available in the beginning of November and through the Christmas season.

"We offer more than just turkey; we have added prime rib dinners and ham dinners," Frampton said. "Every dinner comes with a wide selection of sides and desserts."

Frampton says customers enjoy the flexibility and the customization that is available at any price level.

"You can always add sides, desserts and entrées to any dinner," he said. "Grandma might make the pies, and another relative might make the stuffing. So you can mix and match and get exactly what you want."

The dinners range in prices from the Turkey Breast Dinner ($34.95), which serves up to four people, to the Steam Ship Round Ham Dinner ($99.95), which serves 12.

"It takes the worry out of the holiday," Frampton said. "You can just heat and serve our dinners. It definitely takes away the time you'll spend slaving over the stove."

The dark meat
Although much research exists about the economic and health benefits of turkey, there are those who sit on the other side of the dinner table, including members of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), who claim these birds live in unsafe conditions.

"People always ask me if eating a free-range farm turkey is OK," said Lindsay Rajt, spokesperson for PETA. "Unless you can go to a farm and see the conditions for yourself, you shouldn't trust the free-range label."

Irwin says the confinement buildings are better for turkeys.

"The main purpose of these buildings is to save the turkeys from predators, diseases and weather," Irwin said. "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but what people don't understand is that these buildings are large, open and they are free to move about. All we want to do is protect them, and I'm very proud of the industry for what they've done."

Although the Iowa Turkey Federation proclaims the free-range farms are large open buildings, which allows the animals to roam, Rajt says that isn't always the case.

"Companies can label the flesh of a turkey, living in a huge building, free-range," she said. "As long as they cut a hole in the wall, the turkeys can 'technically' have a way to get outdoors. There is a lot of confusion of what truly is free-range."

PETA says a lot more happens in the turkey industry than the public knows. They claim turkeys are killed when they are five or six months old, and during their short lives, are denied even the simplest pleasures, like running, building nests and raising their young. Large amounts of feces build-up can cause ammonia back up, which burns the birds.

"The turkeys are crammed (10,000 or more birds) into crowded sheds and are forced to live in miserable conditions," said Rajt "The birds run rampant with diseases. Plus they have their throats cut while still conscious."

Turkeys raised on factory farms are hatched in large incubators and do not see their mothers or feel the warmth of a nest, according to goveg.com. When they are only a few weeks old, they are moved into windowless sheds with thousands of other turkeys, where they will spend the rest of their lives. To keep the birds from killing one another in such crowded conditions, parts of their toes and beaks are cut off. The site claims seven million turkeys don't make it past the first few weeks of life in a factory farm before succumbing to "starve-out," a stress-induced condition causing young birds to stop eating.

"People are surprised to learn that there has been a major shift over the past 50 years from being raised on a small family farm to recently the more industrial factories," Rajt said. "The first time most of these birds feel the sunlight is when they are loaded on trucks to be slaughtered."

PETA has investigated several turkey factories and found what they define as "horrifying activity." Not only have there been multiple cases of animal abuse, but also sexual abuse. PETA's investigation into Crestview Farm, a large turkey farm in Minnesota, uncovered shocking cruelty. On video, the farm manager is seen wringing 12-week-old birds' necks and ineffectively bludgeoning dozens of others with what he called his "killing stick." He is also seen using a pair of pliers in an attempt to kill sick birds, because they would decrease profits by continuing to eat feed. Many birds did not die immediately after being bludgeoned and suffered what appeared to be slow, agonizing deaths. According to PETA, this method was not condemned by turkey growers and remains one of the ways in which birds are killed on the farm. During an undercover investigation at a Butterball slaughterhouse in Ozark, Ark., workers were documented punching and stomping live turkeys. One employee stomped on a bird's head until its skull exploded, another swung a turkey against a metal handrail so hard that its spine popped out, and another was seen inserting a finger into a turkey's cloaca (vagina).

"This is only a small amount of what goes on behind the scenes," Rajt said.

Butterball turkeys are killed using a process that involves hanging live birds by their legs, shocking them in an electrified bath of water so that they become paralyzed, slitting their throats, and then
running them through a tank of scalding-hot water for defeathering. Because Butterball's current slaughter method gives workers access to live birds, the animals often suffer when workers become frustrated, bored and desensitized, as PETA claims was the case at this Butterball plant and other poultry plants.

"We do our best to get the word out on what is happening in these factories," Rajt said. "But companies are spending millions of dollars on false advertising."

Hill stands by his word.

"I would like to take the PETA people into each of the turkey barns and then take them into their own homes and see what they think," Hill said. "Many of these birds live in better living conditions than they do. We treat the turkeys like we would our children. We don't feed them anything bad, and they live in good living conditions with clean air, water and wholesome food. PETA is a vegetarian organization, and they treat it like a religion. That's fine what they think, but we are producing wholesome, healthy turkeys."

PETA preaches the best way to save an animal is to not eat it, and that vegetarians save more than 100 animals every year by not eating meat.

Meanwhile, large majorities of people continue to eat meat every day. Knowing where their Thanksgiving turkeys come from and how they have been raised does not appear to have impacted the industry's growth, but PETA's efforts continue.

"The holidays are a time to give thanks with family and friends," Rajt said. "But a rotting corpse of an abused animal is not an appropriate centerpiece for a celebration." CV