Farm manager reports ‘high demand’ for turkeys this season

Turkey is one of the must-have meats for Christmas lunch in Barbados. So it should not come as a surprise that farmers who raise turkeys are busy now trying to meet consumers’ demands.

At Golden Ridge Farms, preparations for the holiday season start as early as August.

During a Barbados TODAY visit to the St George operation on Friday, the farm team said people had placed orders four months in advance to get just the right sized bird.

“We supply turkeys year round and you can find them at the supermarket, but our biggest demand comes from the Christmas season,” said foreman Rodney Mayers.

“The demand is so high that people put in their orders in August to ensure they get exactly what they want; if not, they may not get it. That alone tells you how much Barbadians like turkey around this time. We find that people generally like to eat turkey because they get a lot of meat from the bird and when you compare turkey prices to the price of other meat, let’s say pork, you get more value for your money.”

Farm manager Michael Gill chimed in: “Also, we get demand during the summer for Crop Over, in October for the Canadian Thanksgiving and in November for the American Thanksgiving.”

“The diaspora of those countries living here buy a lot during these periods, but the big rush is for Christmas,” he said, adding that the customers who usually booked early for Christmas wanted large birds weighing 18-20 pounds.

“It’s coming down to the last two weeks before Christmas Day and we would encourage people to hurry and get those orders in so they won’t be disappointed. We have a cut-off time from the processing plant and, unfortunately, if you take too long to order, you would get left out. At present, we are already 75 per cent booked.”

The workers said the farm had an islandwide delivery system and this service was convenient for people who liked their turkeys delivered to their doors.

Gill said Golden Ridge has set itself apart from its competition because turkeys were raised free range, which means they are grown in natural conditions with free movement. He said this style of rearing the birds improved the meat quality.

The farm manager explained that the birds get more exercise as they are not restricted to a confined space, they build more muscle and more protein in their meat, and they have a lower fat content, making them very nutritious and a great source of lean meat. It also helps them to be more resistant to pests and disease. Having plenty of room to roam, the birds were less anxious, aggressive and territorial than those raised in a pen, Gill explained.

“They eat grass, anything on the fruit trees we have here and we supplement that with little feed. We find this method makes the meat softer, tender and juicy. Turkeys also consume a lot of water and to minimise the water bill, we have in place water harvesters to collect rain,” he said.

Mayers added that in about ten to 12 weeks, the birds weighed around 12 to 13 pounds.

As it relates to challenges, the workers said stray dogs were a big problem.

“Sometimes we have wild dogs coming on the farm during the day or night. A Saturday night in October, we lost about 75 turkeys. They normally come from the gully side so we are not sure if they belong to people in the surrounding district. So we would like people to be more mindful of how they keep their dogs. This is bad for business, considering the expense of growing the birds,” they said, adding that they noticed the problem had worsened over the years.

Another issue that has impacted business over time is praedial larceny.

Despite these obstacles, owner of the farm Adrienne Norton said she will press on because she is passionate about farming and pleased about the reputation her small business has developed over the years.

“It is challenging but I will not let it deter me. We have a good thing going here at the farm and we produce a quality product,” she said.

Golden Ridge Farms also produces chicken and cage-free eggs.
(SZB)