Hello

Thanksgiving is 6 weeks away. I can't believe it. It hasn't felt like fall yet with it being so warm lately, but the trees are starting to change and we are certainly running out of hours of daylight to get the work done around the farm!

This week we are releasing our Thanksgiving offerings to you, our current subscribers, first. We'll announce it to the general public later this week.

This year's Thanksgiving outlook:
1) The turkey harvest looks as if they may be a little smaller than last year, just based on current weights and amount of feed they are eating this year. Again, no guarantees on weights until they are harvested.
2) We have to raise the price on turkeys a little to compensate for an increase in feed costs. See below.
3) Our produce bundles, pies, and other items will remain the same price as years' past.
4) Heritage turkeys are extremely limited this year. More so than usual.
5) Reserve your Thanksgiving meal HERE.
MORE NEWS THIS WEEK

Winter Season Registration Open: details can be found HERE on our website. Just 3 more deliveries for the Summer Season and then we transition into the Winter Share (starts the first week of November and runs through May).

Carnivore Share is Back. In case you missed it, here is a link to the Carnivore Announcement.

Sale this Week: Our poultry processor made the wrong chicken bratwurst recipe on about 200# of our meat. They started making their version of chicken brats - which includes a processed sugar (dextrose) instead of our sugar-free mild italian chicken brat recipe. There is nothing we can do about it now except clear them out and offer you the option to buy them at a deep discount - just $5 per package for 4 links (approx 1.2#).

Order ONLINE.

Pullet eggs on sale again this week. Just $2.5 per dozen. Please help us move them these next couple weeks -- they're the same great eggs, just a bit smaller in size. It's a great excuse to do some baking, make a quiche, or even start practicing for holiday eggnog. Yikes, that's right around the corner!
The Turkeys are Eating my Driveway
Turkeys will peck at anything.
A turkey is very curious. In fact, I remember the first time Tim, our photographer, asked one of the turkey growers to let his toddler walk with the turkeys. Jonas hesitated, and said something of the like to "it should be ok."

With the hesitation in his voice, Tim asked Jonas what he meant by "should." Jonas explained that turkeys like to peck at shiny objects. Tim was thinking the shiny buttons on Otto's yellow jacket; Jonas casually answered, "no, his eyes are about the right height."

Well, I'm glad to say Otto won't be going as a natural pirate this Halloween. His eyes are fine, but the point was made. Turkeys are curious, and they do peck at a lot.

But what about the driveway.
Turkeys have a specific reason for pecking at the stones in the driveway. Turkeys don't have teeth. Instead, they have a muscle called a crop. It's a small sack in the esophagus where they store their food before swallowing. In the crop, pebbles help to pulverize the food before it goes to the stomach.

On the farm, we actually provide them a lot of what is called "grit" - a ground up granite that is sized accordingly for their age. When very young, they get very small grit. As they get older, the grit increase all the way up to about a quarter inch in size.

In a confined turkey feeding operation, the grit isn't the important. The milled feed goes down OK without it. But out on pasture where they are picking at seeds, plant vegetation, and our kitchen scraps, the grit is especially important to help them digest this food.

Right now, as we are feeding between 4,000 and 6,000 lbs of feed per week, we are using almost 500# of grit.
Thanksgiving
Our Thanksgiving order form is live --> Order HERE!

About Heritage Turkeys. I can't seem to get a good count on these right now. I'm afraid some have flown off into the woods, and overall, our hatch rate was really low this year. Our hypothesis - the toms are getting too old and overweight. Summary, I need some young toms for next year.

Heritage turkeys are limited to less than 100 this year.

About price increases. Corn has been creeping up since the beginning of the pandemic. I used to be at $4.50 per bushel; right now I'm at $8.96 per bushel. Soybeans are up, freight is up, etc. Overall, our feed cost is soaring. I'm doing everything I can to reduce the consumption of milled grains by planting feed plots, providing more pasture, etc, but the birds still eat a lot of milled feed.

We are changing our pricing this year to reflect the only variable cost in production - feed. A majority of my costs aren't effected by the weight of the bird. It still costs $10.50 to slaughter a small turkey; the box and vacuum bag are still about $1.85; the cost of the peep is still $7.88 per bird, and the labor still amounts to about 3 cents per day per bird.

As a result, smaller birds are less profitable than larger birds. This year, our price on large birds will remain the same as it has been since 2017, and price increases will be graduated by weight range to provide comparable margins on small and large birds.

Market Turkeys:
25.01# and up - $4.50 per lb
20.01# to 25.00# - $4.75 per lb
15.01# to 20.00# - $5.00 per lb
15.00 # and under - $5.25 per lb

In case you're curious...last year 94% of birds came in at 17# and up. That means that 94% of turkeys would see approximately $0.25 per lb. or less in price increase - so $5 or less per bird.

Heritage Turkeys: $5.75 per lb
BAG CONTENTS
Small Omnivore
Smoked Kielbasa
Garlic
Dill
Beets
Collard Greens
Kohlrabi
Butternut Squash
Apples

Small Vegetarian
Garlic
Dill
Beets
Collard Greens
Kohlrabi
Butternut Squash
Apples
Cauliflower
Green Beans

Mini
Collard Greens
Butternut Squash
Apples
Kohlrabi
Dill

Large Omnivore
Smoked Kielbasa
Garlic
Dill
Beets
Collard Greens
Kohlrabi
Butternut Squash
Apples
Bok Choy
Carrots
Jalapenos
Eggs
Maple Breakfast Links


Large Vegetarian
Garlic
Dill
Beets
Collard Greens
Kohlrabi
Butternut Squash
Apples
Cauliflower
Green Beans
Bok Choy
Carrots
Jalapenos
Eggs
Dried Pasta

Small Vegan
Garlic
Dill
Beets
Collard Greens
Kohlrabi
Butternut Squash
Apples
Cauliflower
Green Beans

For more recipes, visit our archive at https://freshforkmarket.com/recipes/
Still Time To Join this Season - Prorated
The Summer Share is winding down, just 3 more weeks!, but there's still time to join in.

Winter Share starts in 4 weeks -- sign-up today for your access lo local foods year round!
OUR FAMILY OF COMPANIES