I’m Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
Americans will celebrate Thanksgiving Day this Thursday. Theholiday tradition includes eating turkey. Some of the birds will befried in oil or barbecued over hot coals. Most will be cooked in theoven.
Most farm-raised turkeys growquickly. In fourteen weeks, a female turkey weighs seven kilogramsand is ready for market. Hens are usually sold as whole birds. Maleturkeys, or toms, are usually grown for eighteen weeks. They weighmore than fourteen kilograms. Toms are processed for meat products.
Some farms have started to raise what are called heritageturkeys. These more traditional kinds of birds take longer to raiseand require more care. Some can be ordered over the Internet. Themeat is at least four times the cost of other turkey. Often,heritage turkeys are raised on organic farms, where no chemicals areused.
Under federal law, turkeys and other poultry cannot be givenhormones to increase growth. But they may receive antibiotic drugsto fight infection and improve weight gain.
Turkeys once were served mainly during Thanksgiving andChristmas. Now people have a wide choice of products served allyear.
Over the years, growers have developed turkeys that have moremeat on their chest. These farm-raised birds are very different fromtheir wild relatives. They cannot even reproduce without assistance.They are fertilized through the artificial insemination process.
Two-thirds of the cost to raise a turkey is spent on food. Farmedturkeys eat a mixture of corn and soybean with added vitamins andminerals. It takes about thirty-six kilograms of food to raise afourteen-kilogram bird.
About eight percent of turkeys raised in the United States areexported. Mexico is the top importer. American turkey production isvalued at three thousand million dollars a year.
Turkeys are native to North America. In the seventeen hundreds,Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey, and not the bald eagle, to bethe national symbol.
But today it does have a place in national politics beforeThanksgiving Day. Last week President Bush “pardoned” two turkeys ina ceremony at the White House. The National Turkey Federation, anindustry group, started this tradition in nineteen forty-seven.
This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by MarioRitter. I’m Gwen Outen.