CONCORDIA, Mo. — People start prepping for Thanksgiving a few weeks to a few days in advance. For turkey farmers, they start as early as January.
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Remington Kesten owns David’s Pasture in Concordia, MO. He said they start their preparations in January by ordering their turkeys. In June, Kesten will prepare the brooders for the hatchlings before the birds come in July. By October, they will be butchering, plucking and freezing the turkey you will eat.
“This week leading up to Thanksgiving is our biggest week of the year and we're trying to get all of our turkeys delivered to folks in Kansas City as well as ready for farm pickups here in Concordia,” said Kesten.
David’s Pasture offers delivery, pick-up, and shipping but you won’t find them in a grocery store. He said they deliver as far as Eastern Olathe or north to Gladstone.
“We start getting people looking for turkeys in early September. Especially like early October start ramping up. We get calls from people, especially people that bought a turkey from us last year wanting to make sure you know they've got their name on their turkey,” said Kesten.
As far as pricing, Kesten said they did have to raise prices slightly per pound due to production costs. He said, however, he believes his birds are safer and healthier than larger commercial birds because they are free-range.
If you are still looking for a turkey, David's Pasturehas a few more available.
