Demand for local turkeys up in Wyoming

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Wyoming is more known for its beef than its turkeys, but more farms are selling locally raised turkeys this Thanksgiving. One such farm is Painted Sage Farm in Daniel, Wyoming, owned by Maggie McAllister. Her turkeys are fed with hay, organic seed, and spent brewer’s grain from a local brewery, and they can roam freely within an enclosed yard.

She charges $75 for each turkey, significantly more than a store-bought bird, but she says the demand is there.

“People are willing to pay more money to have a locally grown, delicious product. Because there is a taste difference, there really is. Once you have a local, farm-raised turkey, you won’t want to go back.”

McAllister says she sold out of her birds in the summer and next year plans to raise at least five times as many turkeys as this year. Her market is mostly in nearby Jackson, but she says demand is growing in other communities, too.