This article was reprinted with permission from Virginia Mercury.
As families gather around the Thanksgiving table today, there is a good chance that the steaming bird at the center of the feast could have come from Virginia. The U.S. Department of Agriculture ranks the commonwealth as the sixth largest producer of turkey in the country, estimating over 15 million birds were produced in 2024.
The turkeys produced in the state are not all for holiday roasts. The growth of Americans’ turkey consumption makes it an all-year commodity through ground meat, deli slices, and other foods that have become staples of the nation’s diet. In 2023, the Virginia turkey industry is estimated to have brought in over $400 million.
“Back in my grandparents’ day, it was a holiday specialty, but now, you can enjoy turkey products year round,” said Hobey Bauhan, president of the Virginia Poultry Federation.
While the value of turkeys and the amount of production nationwide is down, Bauhan said the importance of the industry is still reflected in Virginia, evidenced by investments in plants and feed operations. He said that the federation works with lawmakers on a bipartisan basis to manage policies about protecting the environment to ensure they aren’t too restrictive for the 200 family farms in the state.
“You know, if Virginia does not maintain such a positive business climate, investment could flow through another part of the country,” Bauhan said. “That’s what we want to keep the paltry industry thriving in Virginia.”
Virginia is among states such as Minnesota, North Carolina, Arkansas, Indiana, Missouri, Iowa, and Pennsylvania as top producers of the bird.
With the rise in tariffs in recent years some industries have severely struggled. The turkey industry saw a win in 2023 when U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., was part of talks to lift the significant tariffs India had placed on certain American agricultural products, such as frozen turkey. The first shipments to India came out of the Shenandoah Valley, according to Bauhan.
The turkey industry was modernized through innovation in the Shenandoah Valley in the 1920s at Virginia Tech. A.L. Dean, the head of poultry science at the time, got a letter from Charles Wampler – an extension agent in Rockingham County – about artificially raising turkeys.
“(He) experimented with hatching turkey eggs in an incubator back in the 1920s and it just kind of gave rise to a significant industry in the Shenandoah Valley,” Bauhan said.
This led the turkey industry to operate year-round in a similar way as the chicken industry.
This year the poultry federation celebrated 100 years since its official inception. Agricultural leaders and Gov. Glenn Youngkin reflected on the rich history of the industry in the region in Rockingham County.
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