Thanksgiving Turkey, its origin is Minnesota? November 26, 2008
Posted by Daniel Downs in business, corporations, economy, farms, news, Thanksgiving.add a comment
FedGazette writer Dave Walter claims your Thanksgiving turkey more than likely originated from Minnesota.
In recent years, chances have increased that this Thanksgiving a turkey gracing any given table in America hails from [Minnesota]. By virtually every important measure—birds raised, pounds produced, total value—the district’s turkey industry is growing, and at a faster rate than the industry nationwide.
Last year, district turkey farms raised more than 54 million birds, one-fifth of the nation’s flock of 272 million birds. Much of the increase in the size of the region’s turkey flock has occurred since 2005 and stems from production gains in Minnesota, by far the district’s largest turkey producer.
The strong performance of turkey farmers in the district compares favorably with growth trends in other livestock industries. In the beef industry, cattle and calf production fell 3 percent between 2000 and 2007, and in dairy the number of milk cows raised decreased by 10 percent. Growth in the number of turkeys roughly matched the increase in chicken production, while in terms of pounds produced, the growth rate for turkey was more than twice that for chicken.
Only hog farmers have outdone turkey growers in production growth; between 2000 and 2007, the number of hogs raised in the district increased by about 23 percent. (However, those gains have not translated into higher income for hog farmers, because of dropping hog prices in the past two years.)
Turkey farmers breed and feed today’s birds to grow bigger and quicker (adding as much as two pounds per week to their frames) than their recent ancestors. Careful breeding and nutrition have also produced turkeys of uniform size bearing lots of white breast meat—more desirable to consumers than dark meat.
The supersizing of the American turkey is one indication of how efficient the turkey industry has become at producing large quantities of turkey meat for consumption in the United States and overseas.
Large, uniformly sized turkeys lend themselves to large-scale, automated processing, reducing production costs. Economies of scale extend to turkey hatcheries and farms where turkey hatchlings (called poults) are raised to maturity. The size of turkey “grow-out” facilities in the district varies widely, said Steve Olson, executive director of the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association. But even relatively small farms house 10,000 birds or more, and larger operators raise as many as half a million turkeys at multiple sites.
Efficient production translates into low retail prices. Consumers pay much less per pound for turkey than other meats. In 2007, turkey sold for about half the price of ham and less than half the price of beef (chicken cost about the same). And the price of turkey keeps falling; adjusted for inflation, turkey costs less than it did in 1998. In contrast, the price of beef has risen 26 percent in real dollars over the past decade.
Affordability, together with the development of “further-processed” products such as turkey lunchmeat, sausages and ground meat, has made turkey more of a year-round food item than it was a generation ago. Per capita turkey consumption in the United States rose from 6.3 pounds in 1960 to just over 18 pounds in 1996, according to the USDA. In 2005, turkey consumption fell slightly to 16.7 pounds per person.
American consumers aren’t the only ones eating more turkey; between 1990 and 2007, U.S. exports of turkey meat increased almost eightfold to 554 million pounds. The three leading export countries for turkey are Mexico, China and Russia.
For all its efficiency, the turkey industry is suffering from escalating corn and soybean prices that have increased production costs. Feed accounts for about two-thirds of the cost of raising turkeys. In the summer of 2006, corn prices hovered around $2 per bushel; by last June, they had hit $5 per bushel. The trend for soybeans is similar: Between 2006 and last July, the price more than doubled to almost $12 per bushel. Since then, prices for both commodities have fallen considerably.
So far, processors have eaten the higher costs of feed. Contracts with growers usually stipulate that the processor pays for turkey rations—once a safe bet for processors because before the recent run-up, feed prices had been fairly stable for years. No more; processors are feeling the impact of rising feed prices, which doesn’t bode well for the industry as a whole. The rising price of feed “is first and foremost the thing we think about,” said Burkel of Northern Pride, which has to foot the bill under its contract obligations to member-growers.
Turkeys are extremely efficient at converting feed into meat; just under three pounds of feed are required to grow one pound of turkey—less than half the amount it takes to produce a pound of beef. Even so, processors can be expected to absorb high feed prices only so long before they’re obliged to pass those costs along to consumers or cut production.
The National Turkey Federation in Washington, D.C., has lobbied for a reduction in the federal ethanol mandate for blended gasoline, arguing that the upward pressure it puts on corn prices will ultimately increase turkey retail prices and force some turkey farmers out of business.
The impact of increased ethanol production on feed prices is debatable, but there are already signs of a shake-up in the industry. A Butterball turkey plant in Colorado announced this fall that it would close its slaughtering facility and local turkey raising operations by Thanksgiving, citing “record-high costs for corn, soybean meal and other feed ingredients” for the loss of almost 500 jobs.
The fatter, faster, more efficient turkey and farmers weave a web of independent and corporate growers. Whether it’s all for the birds, I don’t know. I doubt the nutritious value of the birds is as good as marketers want us to believe. Nevertheless, one can only wonder whether the declining economy will further hurt turkey growers. If the above is indicative of current trends, those turkeys in the corporate bird business may need bailed out too. Were more corporate producers to fail altogether, millions of turkeys would have something to be thankful by next Thanksgiving Day.
Can turkeys gobble hallelujah?
Thanksgiving : Past, Present, and Future Tense November 25, 2008
Posted by Daniel Downs in American history, Constitution, covenant, Declaration of Independence, democracy, National Compact, politics, Thanksgiving.2 comments
America was founded upon the thanksgiving of our British ancestors, the Pilgrims. As part of a joint-stock adventure and a gospel mission, they set out to establish the first colony in Virginia. Although they missed their original destination by a few miles, they were thankful for surviving the perils they had endured during the journey across the Atlantic Ocean. They landed on the eastern seacoast just in time for winter. As they explored the coastal desert for a suitable place for shelter, they looked heavenward with thankful hearts for food. About a dozen of the Pilgrims followed a small group of evasive Indians to a deserted camp where they found corn and fish stored underground. This food held them over for the winter. When spring arrived, almost half of the original 100 had died of disease that had spread throughout the region decimating many Indian villages too. That meant that 50 survived both the ravaging disease as well as the harsh cold winter storms. They were thankful for this too. As the sun was warming up the spring air, their hope was thawing too because several friendly Indians arrived willing to help. Yes, they were thankful for those special brave men who were to teach them how to thrive in what seemed a barren dessert land in peace with the native tribes.
The following is a relative brief account penned by William Bradford, who was to become the governor of growing Plymouth Plantation state.
About the 16th of March “a certain Indian came boldly amongst them, and spoke to them in broken English, which could well understand, but marveled at it. He became profitable to them in acquainting them many things concerning the state of the country….” He knew about the English other parts of the country as well as about many of the Indian tribes. His name was Samaset; he told them also of another Indian whose name was Squanto, a native of this place, who had been in England & could speak better English than himself.” After a period of entertaining and exchanging gifts with the Indians, Squanto and the local Indian chief Massasoyt came and made a peace treaty between his tribal people and the Pilgrims, which last 24 years.
“Squanto continued with them, and was their interpreter, and was a special instrument sent of God for their good beyond their expect- ations. He directed them how to [plant] their corn, where to take fish, and to procure other commodities, and was also their pilot to bring them to unknown places for their profit, and never left them until he died.”
During that spring, they began to plant their corn, in which service Squanto greatly helped them, showing them both how to plant it and how to preserve and prepare it. Also he told them that except they got fish and placed it underground, it would come to nothing. He showed many other things that helped them to thrive in the new land.
Yes, the Pilgrims were thankful for the continued providence and blessing of God who “was with them in all their ways,” and who blessed “their outgoings and incomings, for which let his holy name have the praise for ever, to all posteritie.”
Who is their posterity? All Americans should regard themselves as posterity of the Pilgrims for several reasons:
(1) The Pilgrims’ Mayflower Compact is the first of many similar civil compacts that culminated in our very similar national compact called the Declaration of Independence and the ensuing laws defined as Constitutions. If you read both the Mayflower Compact and the Declaration simultaneously, you will see the apparent pattern of similarities. (To read the compact, click here.)
(2) Because our national heritage goes back to the founding of Plymouth and Jamestown, we can count ourselves the spiritual, political, and legal posterity of the Plymouth Pilgrims. This heritage resembles the formation of the ancient nation of Israel. Exodus was more than liberation from slavery; it was the beginning of democracy. Israel became a nation through a political covenant by the unanimous consent of the people. As all legitimate covenants, the consensual agreement was between the people and God. So it was with the Pilgrims and the Mayflower Compact, which was the same type of two-part compact that was later to establish and define American as nation. Both the Mayflower Compact and Declaration incorporated a covenant with God and a social contract between themselves. This is what the Second Continental Congress created in 1776.
The representative federalism of our republican Constitution makes the original goals and rights reality. Our national compact of Declaration and Constitution is an inheritance of all American citizens that requires faithful adherence to this rule of law. Consequently, the same type of covenant and social contract that began with the Pilgrims was incorporated in our national compact that benefits and obligated all past, present, and future citizens.
The progressive socialists/secularists may hate this fact, but it is the legal basis of our national independence and constitution law.
Today, we Americans have much to be thankful for. If we have a place to live with heat in the winter and cooling in the summer, we have more than our Pilgrim ancestors as well as many peoples around the world. If we have sanitized water and good food, we have more than our Pilgrim ancestors and millions of people in many countries. If we have seasonal clothing, we have more than both our Pilgrim ancestors and a great many people across the globe. If we have access to good education and adequate health care, we have much more than both our Pilgrim ancestors and thousands of people both in America and in many other nations. Many of America’s poor enjoy many luxuries and technological innovations that few people in the world enjoy. If we actually enjoy those God-given rights enumerated in the both Declaration and secured through Constitutional law, we Americans still enjoy what multiple millions still do not enjoy.
Yet, these God-given blessings and benefits of prosperity are now in jeopardy of being lost. What we Americans take for granted are threatened by the misguided efforts to prop up unsustainable economic growth based on ever-increasing debt. If trends analysts are correct, the future of those blessings may come to a terrible end. More importantly, the covenantal foundation of our freedom and prosperity has been cast aside for anti-religious and amoral agenda of those who care more about their global profits and power than the common good of all their people.
In a nation that seems to worship many gods including self, profit, hedonistic pleasures, entertainment, and their own accomplishments, the Pilgrims and members of the Second Continental Congress I think would appreciate Psalms 138, which states:
I see that Psalm as a prophetic song that speaks of America’s future as well as the entire world. Let’s hope we may sing it too without any perils predicted by both trends analysts and our nation’s founders. Now is the time to thank the God as did the Pilgrims, the Puritans, and most members of the Second Continental Congress for all of our material, political, and spiritual blessings while hope and thanksgiving buys America more time.
— by Daniel Downs
See an interesting comparison of the Declaration and the Mayflower Compact made by Stephen Corrigan
Included in a commentary titled Is America A Christian Nation are some links to interesting historical and political Thanksgiving proclamations.
Keep Jerusalem United
The State of America 