Market for Organic & Humanely Raised Turkeys IncreasingT

he Associated Press State & Local Wire

November 24, 2004

Turkey farm increasing free-range flocks to meet organic demands

By SHAWN A. HESSINGER, (Pottsville) Republican & Herald

TAMAQUA, Pennsylvania:

One of the area's best-known names in turkeys has produced organically raised birds for the second year in a row. Duane L. Koch, vice president and general manager of Koch's Turkey Farm, expects to increase the number of turkeys being raised without synthetic pesticides next year to meet a growing demand.

"One hundred percent of our birds are all natural," Koch said.

However, with a growing sophistication among consumers, that description is harder than ever to qualify.

"The entire organic industry is growing," said Craig R. Minowa, an environmental scientist with the Organic Consumers Association, a nonprofit public interest group representing the views and interests of the nation's estimated 10 million organic consumers.

Minowa's group claims the industry seeking to supply that consumer base is currently growing by 30 percent a year, making it the fastest growing segment of the nation's agricultural economy.

More surprisingly, Minowa said that growth includes an increasing niche for small family farms like Koch's seeking to compete against the larger factory farms, which have almost squeezed them out of the market.

"Historically, it's been something the small family farmers do," Minowa said.

Koch credits his switch to a more natural product with saving his family farm.

Without gradual changes that have increasingly allowed him to sell more of his birds in a more selective and more lucrative market, he said, "we'd be done."

The transition, however, was not an easy one, and looking back, Koch said he had many misgivings along the way.

About eight years ago, Koch's Turkey Farm abandoned the use of antibiotics to protect its turkeys from infection, opting instead to treat only sick fowl after the fact so that the remaining turkeys could be sold as antibiotic free.

The change over was the result of a request by a customer, Applegate Farms, a Branchburg, N.J., company that produces antibiotic-free lunch meat and offered to pay more for the specially raised birds.

"I was against it. Now, I'm a believer," Koch said.

At first, Koch's concerns seemed well-grounded, and in experiments, the farm lost two flocks to disease. Today, however, he says he can see the decrease in use of preventative antibiotics has produced stronger, healthier birds.

When media reports of concern over mad cow disease in Canada caused the U.S. government to ban the feeding of animal byproducts to all ruminids (animals that chew the cud), Koch himself ended use of any byproducts in feed on the farm, switching his turkeys to a vegetarian diet.

Next, Whole Foods Market, a company based in Austin, Texas, operating a chain of natural and organic food markets, asked Koch to grow free-range turkeys for its stores, especially during the holiday season.

Free-ranging fowl are allowed to roam and forage on grass and insects in open-air pens instead of being confined inside indoor enclosures. The movement toward free range is another effort to develop a more natural bird.

Again, Koch was skeptical although he maintained an open mind.

"(With) free-ranging, I was concerned about disease from wild birds and animals," he said. However, he said he has seen no indications of trouble.

Standing near a pen of free-range turkeys all gobbling happily, Koch said he now could see a clear difference between the 60,000 to 70,000 birds the farm now raises in open-air pens and the rest of the 400,000 turkeys the farm produces annually.

Koch says the free-range birds are cleaner, have better color and a better disposition than those raised without as much exposure to the outdoors.

Koch's first experiment with organic turkeys last year required an even bigger transition. Not only did the farm need to switch to a new organic feed at more than twice the price, but only organically certified disinfectant can be used on the birds and only organic cleaners can now be used in the plant, Koch said.

The use of natural feed not exposed to synthetic pesticides, however, is more than just a "feel-good" issue for consumers, said Minowa.

He said pesticides, including atrazine and glyphosate, have been linked to cancer and hormone disruption in humans.

Another concern beginning to be addressed by organic farmers is the ethical treatment of animals. Koch said he is currently graded on the number of broken wings and even bruises found on his birds and that inspectors also test his stunning equipment to ensure birds are unconscious when killed.

Aside from concern for animal cruelty issues, Minowa said there is a growing belief that increased adrenaline output by animals treated inhumanely during butchering may also affect meat quality.