Gobs of Utah gobblers are ready for holidays

When it comes to the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving feast, few people know gobblers better than Utah's own turkey farmers.

There are 206 farms that raise turkeys in the Beehive State, and although only about 65 sell them retail, those sales are a large chunk of Utah's $1.25 billion agriculture industry.

"Turkey is a very significant part of the total income for agriculture in Utah," says Rick Kestle, director of Utah Agriculture Statistics. "There's no doubt about that."

With Moroni Feed Co., the state's only turkey producing and processing association, and the marketing cooperative Norbest Inc., local turkey farmers have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season.

"Many of the turkeys in the store are Norbest, and they're raised right here in Utah," said Larry Lewis, spokesman for the state Department of Agriculture.

Norbest packs 80 million pounds of turkey products each year produced by traditional, independent family farms. That amounts to about 5 million turkeys. From breeding to sales, the co-op is involved in everything dealing with the birds. Even the turkey's manure is used as fertilizer.

"We save everything but the gobble," said David Bailey, president and CEO of Moroni Feed.

Based in Sanpete County, Moroni Feed is one of the largest employers in the area, with roughly 900 employees. A sophisticated system of breeding, hatching, feeding, processing and specialty processing has kept local families in the turkey industry for years. Moroni Feed is made up of numerous third- and fourth-generation turkey-farming families.

"That's what we are. Family-owned farms," Bailey said. "It's actually fairly unique. Most of the turkey production in the United States is owned and produced by the big corporations."

Despite that corporate dominance, 75-year-old Norbest embraces traditional roots. The company has started including a picture of some of the local family turkey farms on its package labels.

"The bulk of the industry is now contract farming, where a large processor will contract with farmers and the farmers grow the turkeys for the corporation," said Paul Reed, director of marketing for Norbest.

In addition to Moroni Feed, independent farmers in Nebraska also own and operate Norbest.

"But in our situation, there are independent family farmers whose business is completely independent and they make their own decisions," Reed said.

As one of the world's oldest turkey cooperatives, it's the brand loyalty and innovations that keep these Utahns in business and consumers well fed, Reed said.

"We're pretty well respected around the world as your good, old-fashioned, we-know-how-to-do-it-best turkey company," Reed said.

But as long as Americans keep eating turkey in any form and on any day of the year, turkey farmers are happy.

"The turkey is becoming more than just a holiday (food). The turkey is evolving into a year-round product. People are finding more and more ways to enjoy turkey," Bailey said. "And that's good news."

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E-mail: astowell@desnews.com