This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English AgricultureReport.
Last Thursday, millions ofAmericans ate turkey as part of a traditional meal on Thanksgiving,a national holiday. Turkey is also popular on Christmas.
In the past, half of all turkeys sold in the United States wereeaten during the holidays. Now that share is thirty percent, as moreturkey products appear on the market. Over the years Americans havebeen eating less red meat and more chicken and turkey. Turkey is nowthe fourth most popular meat.
The National Turkey Federation in New York represents theindustry. The group says Americans eat two times more turkey thanthey did twenty-five years ago. Last year the average amount perperson was eight kilograms. Americans are second only to Israelis inthe amount of turkey eaten. The French are third.
Six percent of turkeys raised in the United States are exported.Mexico is the top importer. Next come Hong Kong, Russia and Taiwan.
Over the years, growers have developed birds that are better forindustrial meat production. A turkey hen lays eighty to one-hundredeggs in a season. To fertilize the eggs, reproduction is left not tonature but to the process of artificial insemination.
Farmed turkeys grow very quickly. In fourteen weeks, a hen weighsseven kilograms and is ready for market. Male turkeys, called toms,are grown longer. In eighteen weeks, a male turkey weighs more thanfourteen kilograms. Hens are usually sold as whole birds. The tomsare processed into meat products.
Two-thirds of the cost to raise a turkey is in the food they eat.Farmed turkeys eat a mixture of corn and soybean with vitamins andminerals added. To raise a fourteen-kilogram bird requires aboutthirty-six kilograms of food.
Most turkeys are raised inside barns. But higher-priced turkeysmay be permitted to go outside in the open air. Farm turkeys cannotfly, and even wild turkeys cannot fly very far.
The Department of Agriculture says turkeys are not fed hormonesto increase growth. It says turkeys may receive antibiotic drugs toprevent disease and increase feed efficiency. There are turkeysraised without antibiotics or feed grown with chemicals. But peoplewho want to feed their families an organic turkey for the holidays,or any time, pay a higher price at the store.
This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by MarioRitter. This is Steve Ember.