ohn Volkmann was working for a farmer raising nursery pigs when he decided he wanted to farm on his own. Turkeys turned out to be his ticket.

"At that time we were looking at contract pigs or turkeys after looking at both options, we decided turkeys were a good option," he said. "What we liked about turkeys was the ownership in West Liberty Foods."

He and his wife, Andria, bought an acreage in Jewell and built one brooder house and two finisher barns to start their turkey operation in 2002.

In 2006, the farm grew.

"In 2006 West Liberty was expanding again and had an incentive program for adding barns," John said. "We added two more finishing barns and added onto our brooder."

Now, the family raises up to 100,000 turkeys per year.

But consumers won’t see turkeys on their...