Missouri turkeys popular for Thanksgiving tables

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- If it's a Thanksgiving turkey you're looking for, then Missouri is the place to find it.

In fact, chances are that families nationwide will be gobbling down a turkey produced in Missouri, given the state's national ranking for production and quality.

Missouri ranked fifth nationwide last year in turkey production. North Carolina was No. 1, followed by Minnesota, Arkansas and Virginia.

Last year alone, Missouri raised 23 million turkeys producing more than 618 million pounds of meat, with an economic impact of more than $272 million. Allowing for both producers and processors, the turkey industry in Missouri employs more than 2,000 people.

The average American ate more than 17 pounds of turkey last year, according to the National Turkey Federation.

Rhonda Heimericks, who produces turkeys on the family farm in California, Mo., under contract with Cargill, said this year's crop of birds looked real good.

"They look fine, they look great, we had a nice healthy bunch of turkeys," Heimericks said. "They should be some of the ones Missourians will be eating for Thanksgiving and Christmas."

Turkey-friendly climate

Missouri's climate is one of the reasons for it's strong turkey industry, Heimericks said. But she added that since the state industry is spread out, problems with diseases seen elsewhere are rare Missouri.

"We're very biosecure here and I'd say that's probably one of our advantages," she said.

There are three major turkey processors in Missouri including Cargill, Butterball Turkey Co. in Carthage and Willow Brook Foods in Springfield. Butterball and Cargill were second and third respectively in the amount of turkey meat processed in 2000 nationwide.

Kevin Kniefel, the complex manager at the Cargill plant in California, said there is always a high demand for Missouri turkeys, and this year is no different.

"The industry has been pretty tight as far as the supply side. Always this time of year, most of the operations get sold out of turkeys," Kniefel said.

According to recent market figures, the selling prices of turkeys in the Midwest were hovering above 70 cents a pound.

But turkey prices typically vary widely from supermarket to supermarket. Grocery stores often sell the birds for less than the wholesale cost to draw in customers.

John Bryan, executive director of the Missouri Poultry Federation, said there has been some debate in the turkey industry about the size of this year's birds.

Since fewer people are expected to be traveling this Thanksgiving because of the terrorist attacks, Bryan said what kind of turkeys are available has been a hot topic.

"Some argue that there was a need for bigger birds because people weren't going to be flying places and gatherings would be closer to home, therefore requiring a bigger bird," Bryan said. "The other argument was that because people were traveling less for bigger gatherings, the birds would be smaller. I can see both sides of the debate."

Still, Bryan and the state Department of Agriculture agree that there will be plenty of birds to pick from in Missouri.