The Bovine Bugle

"Turkey Day" comes a little early at Howmars Farm

Saturday, October 8, was the day we processed the 48 turkeys we had been raising since mid-June here at Howmars Farm. The birds were 18 1/2 weeks old and were in great shape from all the organic grain and pasture they had been feeding on. This year we had mobile processing unit come right to the farm to do the birds. This way the turkeys didn't have to be loaded into the back of our pickup and transported for over an hour to an unfamiliar farm to await their fate.

The outfit that came to our place was Cabin View Farm, a poultry farm in Littleton, NH, owned by Ray Garcia. Ray had kindly worked us into his schedule, and he arrived a little after 11 AM to get set up. His operation was very clean, very efficient, and the end product looked great. He was working by himself today, so he put in a long, hard day. The last of the chilled birds was bagged and labeled around 7:30 in the evening. Karen, my dad, my brother, and I tried to help him as much as we could, which wasn't much. It was interesting to hear about his chicken and turkey operation, and about some of his interactions with his customers. Like us, he often has to explain to customers why our products (meat chickens, turkeys, and eggs) are more expensive than coventionally raised products and why they are worth it.

Ray headed out on his 2 1/2 hour ride home, and I checked on the freezers holding the 17-25 pound turkeys, parked the tractor in the barn, checked on the cows, and then headed to the house for supper at around 8:30. Another turkey season had come to a close.

--Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont

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Posted by Blogger Chris at October 19, 2005 08:43 PM