Entrepreneurship as a blessing…

A plump, juicy turkey is probably the centerpiece of your Thanksgiving Day spread.  Harley Sietsema has spent 30 years working to make sure that your turkey is safe, delicious and affordable (so you can keep your focus on figuring out exactly how long you need to cook it.)

Three generations work side-by-side at Sietsema Farms, where family is priority.

Harley knows turkeys. Nutrient dense, low in fat, rich in protein, and with fewer calories than many lean red meats, turkeys are an appealing food source. In order to meet demand and keep his Michigan-based family farm going strong, Harley has focused his business on sustainability. He farms with his two sons, has a daughter involved in the business and proud to see grandchildren who also know turkeys.

Sustainability may be a current buzzword, but it’s been the emphasis of Sietsema Farms for over three decades.

“We want to be able to have a successful farm that will continue into the next generations,” says Harley and sons. “We want to preserve the environment and be a blessing to the communities that we reside in.”

A past Elder in his church, Harley is highly respected as an entrepreneur. Sietsema Farms grows a lot of the grains the turkeys need to be healthy, helped start a co-op with other farmers to process the meat humanely and most recently built a biomass system that converts turkey litter into energy that powers the grain elevator.

That’s right — a grain elevator powered by turkey poop.

It’s a clean waste-disposal system with a zero-carbon footprint that generates the energy equivalent of nearly 8,500 barrels of oil annually. That’s enough to provide electricity for up to 400 average American homes. The system not only sustains the environment, it sustains the family farmers and their employees. As long as turkeys are raised, the energy source won’t run out.

Did You Know…

Harley has seen many improvements in bird care over three decades of growing turkeys.

It takes 2.4 pounds of feed to raise one pound of turkey. It used to take more than 3. This impressive 20% reduction in feed resources is a result of feed conversion improvements over the past 20 years that have lessened the environmental impact of raising turkeys. No need for any environmental guilt as you consume….

Consider This…

Have you heard the theory that if Barbie were an actual person, thanks to her unique and sizable, um, proportions, she wouldn’t be able to walk? Rumors abound that turkeys are being bred to have breasts so large that they can’t walk, either. Well, a bird that can’t walk dies, and is no value for the turkey farmer to raise. Every bird that doesn’t make it to market is counted as feed waste (the amount they consumed to that point). Since feed is more than 50% of the cost of raising turkeys, the loss of financial return is pretty great.

In short, genetically engineering “Turkey Barbies” is neither financially successful or sustainable. And since the Sietsemas care about their birds, their business and their community – that just doesn’t add up.

Hungry for more farmer stories?
Dairy Farmer: A Californian Goddess
Potato Farmer: Techno Toys in North Dakota
Wheat Farmer: The Data Guy in Kansas
Pumpkin Farmer: All Hands on Deck in Illinois
Cranberry Farmer: A Working Mom in Massachusetts