DES MOINES, Iowa – Thursday might have been Thanksgiving day, but turkey production is a year-round, billion-dollar business in the state of Iowa.
And while turkey might not be the animal that springs to mind when the topic of Iowa livestock comes up, but the facts beg to differ; Iowa is ninth in the country for turkey production, and fifth in the nation for turkey processing. According to the Iowa Turkey Federation, each bird raised in the state adds about $25 back into the Iowan economy.
In all, Iowa’s turkey production has a $1.5 billion-dollar impact on Iowa’s economy, with about 130 raising nearly 11 million turkeys statewide.
Unlike other livestock sectors, many turkey farmers sell to their own cooperative in West Liberty, in eastern Iowa; the arrangement helps producers manage risk, as Iowa Turkey Federation Executive Director Gretta Irwin explains.
“[West Liberty Foods] is a farmer owned cooperative,” says Irwin, “meaning the farmers went ahead and bought that plant about 15 years ago now from Louis Rich when they decided to leave the state. So the farmers owned the processing plant; they have profits that they get from the processing plant, as well as profits from raising their turkeys. So it has helped the farmers in Iowa spread that risk out from just the production side of things. They’re also now involved in processing.”
Turkey farmers in Iowa also sell their animals to the Tyson processing plant in Storm Lake, which Irwin says has just re-opened for business in November.
“They had a plant fire earlier this year,” Irwin says, “and it has taken them a few months, obviously, to get recuperated from that. So we’re excited to see some more processing happening back here in the state of Iowa for those turkeys; they no longer have to go outside of the state of Iowa to be processed.”
Irwin says it’s worth noting that neither the Tyson plant nor West Liberty Foods processes whole birds. That means the turkey on your table this Thanksgiving likely didn’t come from Iowa, but the turkey in your Subway or Jimmy John’s sandwich very well could have.
To hear more about Iowa’s turkey industry, click the audio player above this story.
