The Presidential Turkey Is a Product of Sustainable Farming

You can make the centerpiece of your Thanksgiving table sustainable with a turkey from this family-owned farm in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania. This same farm that has dedicated so much of its time and energy towards producing a high quality turkey is also the provider of the President’s Thanksgiving turkey every year. 

So you and the President can partake in this prince of poultry!

Jaindl Farms: From Five Turkeys to 840,000

The Jaindl family has been growing and raising turkeys on their farm for nearly a century. Five generations of Jaindl descendants have kept the mission and vision of their forefathers alive and well, adapting to changes while always seeking to remain true to their roots. The family began growing turkeys on their farm in 1933, when John L. Jaindl gave his son, Fred, five turkeys as a gift at the county fair. 

Their quality birds began winning recognition as Grand Champion, Reserve Champion, and Best Display in the worldwide National Turkey Federation Competition in 1954 and continued to receive this recognition for five years in a row. Ever since this time, Jaindl Farms has provided the President of the United States with a Thanksgiving turkey from their farm.

Operations on Jaindl Farms have grown steadily over the years as the farm has expanded its land, its holdings, and its production. Today, the farm raises over 840,000 turkeys each year in addition to its other enterprises.

Full-Circle Farming for Perfect, Perky Poultry

From insemination to processing, every step of the turkey’s life is nurtured and contained within the Jaindl Farms ecosystem. 

“Our goal is to provide the finest turkeys, through humane processes, and with the least impact on our environment,” their website says. “Your family deserves food you feel good about.”

Jaindl Farms believes in using humane farming practices to raise their turkeys. Their barns are constructed to let through natural sunlight so the birds receive much needed vitamin D. Inside the barns, the straw bedding is cycled through every 10-12 days to keep the turkeys healthy and clean. The turkeys are even given stimulation activities and toys—ramps, standing pallets, and xylophones—to keep them active and moving.

What goes into a bird is just as important as its living environment. The birds are antibiotic free and fed organic grains. Back in 1967, the Jaindl family built a feed mill to hold and process 950,000 bushels of grain specially formulated for their turkeys. These grains are all grown on 13,000 acres of Jaindl farmland. Just a couple of years later, the family made a commitment to animal welfare and food safety on its farm and built a state-of-the-art food processing plant to ensure quality. In 2009, the Humane Society of the United States recommended the farm to retailers, recognizing Jaindl Farms for their thought and care for their birds. 

Jaindl Practices Comprehensive Sustainable Farming

The Jaindl Farms ecosystem goes beyond animal welfare, into a wide range of initiatives that emphasize sustainability and health for the land, humanity, and the whole planet. To keep its soil healthy, prevent erosion, replenish soil nutrients, and improve pest control, the farm consults with a local agronomist regularly to create an efficient planting and harvesting plan that includes planting cover crops and crop rotation. Buffers and berms surrounding their agricultural fields and grow-out farms support pollinators and local biodiversity while preventing erosion and reducing runoff. The farm is also currently installing a solar field to account for 15% of its energy production annually.

In 2007, Jaindl Farms built a biofuel plant, which converts soybeans grown on their farm into a high-quality protein meal fed exclusively to their turkeys. In this process, oil pressed from roasted soybeans is blended to provide environmentally sensitive bio-diesel, which heats their processing plant and hatchery and helps run their farm equipment.

Jaindl Farms also recognizes the need to be mindful of their operations and contribute to reducing carbon emissions Throughout the Lehigh Valley, Jaindl has operated tree nurseries and has planted more than 200,000 native trees. The farm is also in the early phases of installing an anaerobic digester at their farm. An anaerobic digester is an organic recycling solution that helps local farms convert energy potential in manure and food waste into renewable energy, provide low-cost energy and other free utilities, generate renewable natural gas for renewable electricity, reduce farm odor and groundwater contamination, and create methane for farm-based generators.

Sustainable thinking extends into the farm’s land development operations. Jaindl follows a 2-for-1 rule, which says for every acre of land they develop, they will invest in two agricultural acres in order to sustain the farm and surrounding land long-term.

“As a family who works and develops the earth, we have a hardened determination to work in sustainable ways. This is our purpose. We care for and protect the land, and in turn it helps sustain a way of life for many generation’s past, and countless future generations. There is no other way, as far as we’re concerned.”

It’s True! Turkeys Can Fly (2nd-Day Air)

So, are you ready to eat a Jaindl turkey this holiday season? You can order directly from Jaindl Farms by visiting their website. The farm delivers all its turkeys throughout the United States via second-day air delivery. Place your order for a sustainably raised Jaindl turkey today.