Gobble, Gobble

John Haughey | Contributing Writer

Florida is a powerhouse for agriculture nationally, with 47,100 commercial farms generating some $9 billion annually in shipped commodities. That includes $485 million in poultry. Most of that poultry is chicken.
Yet, the Sunshine State's contribution to the turkey industry, while somewhat ... paltry, includes several thriving niche turkey farms on the west coast of the state. These farms are part of a group of 600 statewide that raise about 5,500 free-range turkeys a year, according to data from the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Robert Kluson, a Sarasota-based extension agent with the UF institute, says the trend in turkey and chicken farms is in pasture-raised poultry.

One challenge in data collection of turkey farms is timing. Most of these operations do the bulk of the year's work in November and December, for Thanksgiving and Christmas sales.