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'I y A O' Moroni Talks Turkey: pr Growers Give Thanks Leonard Blackham a turkey farmer in Moroni credits strong management iU By Eric McMullm Tribune Agriculture Writer MORONI — In the end it was simply dissatisfaction with the local chicken feed that led to formation of what has become Sanpete County’s largest employer and defining in- dustry Moroni Feed Co celebrates its 50th Thanksgiving this Thursday The company had just over $60 million in sales last year and at its peak employs 800 people and cranks out 1000 tons of feed an hour The company is integrated vertically providing members everything from poults to processing Moroni Feed Co which is the largest employer m the county and has made northern Sanpete County synonymous T ""TW 5W-- WJ employees and a cooperative attitude with turning Moroni Feed Co into the largest employer in Sanpete County The cooperative is in its 50th year rv!J Every Time Another Bird Gets Gobbled Up i ! — Intxme with turkeys began almost as soon as the county's fledgling turkey industry Will Irons a successful livestock and grain farmer in the area was casting about in 1936 for a commod- ity into which he could diversify He chose turkeys He and four others saw some potential in turkeys and started small operations but found the only poultry feed available in the area was for chicken The mash used wasn t right for turkeys and on Jan 20 1938 Moroni Feed Co was formed with 20 charter members With a feed mill in the area he turkey industry flourished Within two years the cooperative had purchased a processing plant and in 1948 became full members of the Norbest marketing cooperative That association has continued to the present and has been a major stabilizing factor for MJ- a V f yjr- - $ $0 f9 if- - jk hjX J$L lb r ! IV Msem' mJt ti Hilda j - d ’ MV fev J ft — Staff Photo by Enc McMullm Sanpete County said Ieonard Blackham assistant general manager of Moroni Feed “They used to have buyers coming around bidding on individual flocks” said Mr Blackham "It was a nightmare for the processing plant They wouldn’t know until slaughter which labels to put on the dressed turkeys and which bags to put them into "The growers met and decided they needed to pool together and sell to one buyer " Norbest the aggressive nationwide marketer of turkeys was chosen and has provided a steady market for the county’s turkey production ever since Last year nearly 90 million pounds of turkeys went to Norbest from Sanpete County said Mr Blackham The Blackhams have been a major force in Moroni Feed Co Lamont Blackham joined the cooperative in 1942 and went on to serve 32 years as manager of the processing plant and eight years as general manager of Moroni Feed His were charter members of Moroni father and father-in-laFeed and Leonard is a member of the next generation Not everyone m the early years was convinced turkeys were the future said Lamont him His dad had a "Ralph Blackham s dad good sue sheep operation and didn’t think turkeys would amount to anjthing " Growth was gradual in the 1940s — "We had to convince some of those Bolsheviks over in Ephraim to join" said Lamont grinning — but the cooperative continued to add new divisions each one serving a specific need When a farmer joins the cooperative he agrees to buy all of his supplies from Moroni Feed and to sell all of his turkeys through the company Because Norbest determines how much turkey it can sell production and membership is monitored closely In return the cooperative provides everything the farmer needs The company operates its ow n hatchery jiroviding day-olpoults to each of its 122 members A service station and supply store are available at the plant and two full time veterinarians are on staff The feed mill provides a computerized feed ration in bulk and the processing plant gives the farmer a marketable pioduct that he could not provide on his own Vertical integration allows the profits from each step to be returned to the members said Lamont an advantage that jiroved crucial m the 1950s At that time there weie 17 turkey plants in the state Now there are two Moroni Feed and the Utah Turkey Growers in Salma If the company wasn t progressive it wouldn t have made it” he said You ve got to keep ahead of the game in this business " Moroni Feed specializes in jiroducmg the Oilopp breed of turkey a large big breasted turkey that is sold primarily to hotels restaurants and hospitals It is a late producing breed that maintains a good feed to weight conversion rate beyond 30 pounds said Leonard Because the breast meat is the most prized cut of the bird Moroni Feed receives a premium of as much us 25 cents a pound for its turkevs With last years aveiage price for See Column 1 pooh-poohe- M'j'A KRI hard-workin- g Sc8t Ptwjtu by N HortiTHann With sales of $60 million last year turkeys represent the largest portion of the northern Sanpete County economy F-- |