Turkey: Turkey Production

Until the early twentieth century, turkeys were raised on family farms and were marketed locally. After World War II growers began to expand the size of their operations. In 1961 the turkey market crashed, and many growers lost their businesses. Those who remained had to lower their costs to survive. One way of lowering costs was vertical integration, in which all aspects of turkey farming were combined into one operation to eliminate middlemen. This system tended to concentrate the turkey industry in fewer hands, and most small farmers dropped out of the turkey business.