“Even before Halloween, people start asking, ‘When can I get one of those turkeys?'” said Bailey Whitehill, Manson Hometown Grocery manager. “These free-range turkeys are very high quality.”

Customers can place orders ahead of the holidays, or they can drop by the store to pick up a turkey for their Thanksgiving meal. Ava Moline, 16, a student at Manson Northwest Webster (MNW) High School, raises these specialty turkeys, which have garnered quite a following.

“People often say, ‘This is the best turkey I’ve ever tasted,'” said Ava Moline’s father, Brad, whose family has raised turkeys in the Manson area for a century. “A year later, they’re still talking about how good this turkey is.”

For the past seven years, Ava Moline has been raising a special type of turkey known as the MiniCLASSIC. The MiniCLASSIC may be small in stature, but these birds are big in everything that creates a superior culinary experience.

-Messenger photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
Ava Moline watches as her flock of turkeys emerges from the modified brooder house where they stay on her family’s farm near Manson.

Stocky and robust, the MiniCLASSIC has been bred to deliver all of the desirable characteristics that turkeys have been known for historically. These slow-growing turkeys thrive in specialized or free-range farming operations. They range from 12 to 20 pounds at market weight–much smaller than a standard, commercial turkey. MiniCLASSIC hens generally range from 11 to 14 pounds, while toms are 18 to 19 pounds.

For home cooks who want a small, locally-grown bird that produces succulent meat, nothing compares to the MiniCLASSIC. “This type of turkey essentially has more ‘marbling’ for great flavor and tender, juicy meat,” said Gretta Irwin, executive director of the Iowa Turkey Federation. “This makes for great broth and gravy, too.”

When Ava Moline began raising MiniCLASSICs through her Golden Prairie Turkeys enterprise, she sold 200 birds that first year. Thanks to word-of-mouth advertising, she expanded to 500 birds in 2023 and raised 2,000 MiniCLASSICs this year.

The MNW sophomore has used her turkey business as part of a Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) through FFA. She sells her turkeys each fall through Manson Hometown Grocery, as well as Woods Supermarket in Pocahontas. “These turkeys work well whether you want to bake them in the oven, fry them or put them in a smoker,” she noted.

Eat local

Ava Moline also markets her turkeys through the ChopLocal.com website, Dogpatch Urban Gardens in Des Moines, and the West Forty Market in Ankeny. This locally-owned shop features more than 120 cuts of turkey, beef, pork, chicken, bison and lamb, all raised on Iowa farms and harvested in Iowa.

“Our customers want to know where their food comes from,” said Teresa Davis, owner of the West Forty Market, who recently filmed some social media videos at the Moline farm. “People love to see the farmers like Ava who raise their food.”

Davis filmed her video near the modified brooder house where Ava Moline raises her turkeys on her family’s farm northwest of Manson. During the day, the birds get to roam around a huge, fenced-in area, complete with trees. The birds are put back inside the brooder house every evening. “This is like a country club for turkeys,'” joked Brad Moline, president of the Iowa Turkey Federation.

Food security is national security

When it’s time to harvest turkeys, this can create a challenge for small-scale producers like Ava Moline, since few processors in Iowa serve this sector of the industry.

Although a poultry processor in Greene, Iowa, has served small-scale producers for years, Brad Moline and his fellow Iowa Turkey Federation members are trying to offer more options. They are working with state and federal legislators to streamline the rules to make this process easier.

In early August 2024, Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Hull) introduced the Increasing Small-Scale Poultry Processing Opportunities Act. This would amend the Poultry Products Inspection Act to allow poultry processing facilities to perform regular slaughter and custom-exempt at the same facility.

“On my 36 County Tour and annual agriculture tour, I’ve met with poultry producers who are frustrated by the lack of convenient processing options in our communities, and small businesses that are ready to grow their operations,” Feenstra said. “Due to outdated laws, Iowa farmers often travel long distances to have their turkeys and broilers slaughtered and processed – this must change.”

Feenstra applauds the work that Iowa Secretary Mike Naig has done at the state level to get this done. Feenstra continues to promote legislation to modernize federal law and increase small-scale poultry processing in Iowa. “Food security is national security,” he said.

Feenstra’s bill will provide additional processing options for farmers and opportunities for consumers to buy more locally raised turkey and chicken, plus it will support local meat lockers that want to expand their poultry processing services.

“This is the first step in the right direction for increasing alternatives for poultry processing,” Brad Moline said. “It has been a goal of mine and the Iowa Turkey Federation to expand turkey processing options and to ultimately help grow the turkey industry, increase turkey consumption and to promote turkey for the flavorful, high-quality protein that it is.”

All this helps younger producers like Ava Moline succeed in turkey production. A growing part of her business includes serving various companies that give her turkeys as holiday gifts to their employees.

Cooking a great turkey dinner doesn’t have to be complicated, Irwin added. “People over-think it. Just season the bird with salt and pepper, cover the turkey with tinfoil, and cook it until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit.”

While Thanksgiving is prime time for Manson Hometown Grocery to sell Moline’s turkeys, it’s still possible to get them throughout the holiday season, Whitehill said. “If we have any extras after Thanksgiving, we freeze them and have them available through Christmas. I’m glad we can work with the Molines to offer these turkeys, because it helps both of us out.”

Did You Know:

Iowa is the 7th largest turkey-producing state in America.

Iowa farmers raise nearly 12 million turkeys each year.

Each turkey raised in Iowa adds more than $30 to Iowa’s economy.

With roughly 12 million birds raised in Iowa annually, that adds up to more than $360 million dollars to power Iowa’s economy.

Iowa is the 5th largest turkey-processing state in America.

Iowa’s two turkey processing plants (in West Liberty and Storm Lake) process more than14 million turkeys a year.

Much of the turkey processed in West Liberty is used for sliced deli meats.