From the Fields to the Feast: Diestel Family Turkey Ranch Prepares for Thanksgiving
Tim Diestel, owner of Diestel Turkey Ranch in Sonora, sits among a flock of Heirloom turkeys.
Story and Photo by Thomas Atkins
With one of the most anticipated holidays of the season nearly upon us, it is hard not to think about all the good things to come. The gathering of family and friends, the time off from work and school, the massive storewide sales and shopping sprees…and of course, the coveted Thanksgiving feast! And although stuffed with scrumptious victuals and goodies, it is the main course of this heavenly spread that receives the spotlight – the treasured turkey. This fine feathered fowl quickly becomes in high demand as the short November days bring us closer to this joyous holiday, and employees at the Diestel Family Turkey Ranch in Sonora have been working hard all year to ensure that this cherished centerpiece for this annual belt-loosening banquet is the best that it can possibly be.
“We are really busy this time of year,” said Tim Diestel, owner of Diestel Family Turkey Ranch. “This is the big push. In fact the birds are in the process of being butchered right now. We butcher about 2,000 at the ranch each year and people come out and pick them up for Thanksgiving…but we also distribute to local markets like Twain Harte and Tuolumne Savemart.”
Actually, Diestel turkeys are available far beyond Tuolumne County and can be found at many natural food markets and fine grocers in California and across the rest of the United States. Yet it is this time of year when most of their turkeys are distributed.
“Sixty percent of our year’s business is done at Thanksgiving,” said Tim. “We also distribute turkeys at Christmas, but we only sell about a quarter of the turkeys compared to what we sell at Thanksgiving.”
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 45 million turkeys are cooked and eaten in the U.S. at Thanksgiving – one sixth of all turkeys sold in the U.S. each year!
Because Thanksgiving is such a major ingredient of the turkey business, Diestel Ranch begins preparing their birds well in advance.
“We start getting the turkeys ready for Thanksgiving in April,” explained Tim. “We have designated flocks for Thanksgiving as well as flocks for Christmas. It takes about six months to grow them, but we have different kinds of turkeys so when the time comes, we will have different sizes and different weights to choose from. We offer birds from six to ten pounds up to over 40 pounds.”
The ranch is currently home to four types of turkeys: the original Diestel turkey, Heidi’s hens, the Diestel petite turkey and the American Heirloom turkey.
“The Diestel turkey is like the natural, free range type and a Heidi’s hen is the organic turkey,” said Tim. “The petite turkey is a miniature turkey that we’ve bred; it’s just like a big chicken. We’ve had that kind of bird for about 15 years. Fully dressed it only weighs about 8 pounds. They are pretty much like a roaster chicken size. It’s not necessarily for the holidays…it’s more of a year round turkey. It’s perfect for a weekend BBQs or something. With one of those you don’t have to worry about a week’s worth of leftovers.”
Yet Tim’s favorite turkey is the American Heirloom.
“These are an older breed that really isn’t used anymore commercially,” said Tim. “They are old style that date back to the 30s and 40s and look a lot like the wild turkey in this area.”
The native wild turkey in the Mother Lode is the American Bronze turkey and can be found foraging in fields of the foothills.
“This is the type of turkey you would picture at the Indians and Pilgrims Thanksgiving,” said Tim. “It’s kind of the “traditional” turkey. These are black, bronze or auburn birds. It has since been bred and intermixed with other birds, creating several varieties and colors. It just continued to evolve, and now there are like 20 different types. They are all beautiful birds.”
Driving up to the 85 acre ranch, I must agree that the Heirloom turkeys were the first to catch my eye. However, Tim said that these turkeys are less common within the industry.
We used to only raise this type of turkey, but in 1964, the industry switched to a white turkey,” explained Tim. “So that year we had half black and half white ones…and then after that they were all white. The reason for the switch was because the quills of the black turkey feathers have black ink, and if a quill broke while plucking the feathers it would leave a big black mark on the skin. But this doesn’t happen with white feathers. The industry also uses the large, white turkey because it’s the most economical. These turkeys are “cut ups” and are not whole-body. This means they can be used all year because it all goes for meat – your deli, grinds and sausage and all the stuff you see in the stores – it’s all from one big, giant turkey.”
However, over the last three or four years, Tim has brought the black-feathered Heirloom turkeys back to the ranch to add some flavor to its white-feathered population.
“The rest of our turkeys are just white, but these are more like show turkeys,” he said. “They are good eating and all, but really it’s just more fun to raise them. We only use about 1,000 of them, but they are pretty and fun to have around.”
Overall, the ranch is home to 100,000 turkeys, a minuscule percentage of the more than 260 million turkeys that were raised in the United States last year. But that is still a lot of feathers, and the ranch has continued to grow since Tim’s father, Jack, started it in 1949. Within a few months the ranch will be celebrating sixty years of business, and Tim discusses how things have changed in that span of time.
“What we do with the turkey and the types of turkeys we raise now is different than what we used to raise,” said Tim, who took over the business in 1980. “We’ve blended in different breeds to have smaller consumer sized turkeys, so that has made it more user friendly. So what we do with the turkeys from a consumer/marketing standpoint is quite a bit different than what we used to do. When we first started it was pretty much just Thanksgiving and Christmas whole-body turkeys and some turkey parts, while today we sell a lot more of the deli meats, sausages and ground turkey. Ground turkey has become a very popular product, just like ground beef. People today eat more of a variety of turkey cuts as compared to 25-30 years ago. So that is a big, big change.”
However, the way the turkeys are raised, hasn’t changed at all.
“At the turkey growing end of it we’ve kind of maintained the same practices we did fifty years ago, because if we changed things we would lose what we consider our product quality,” said Tim. “We start them in a brooder facility when they are babies because they have to have heat. They have to be kept inside for about a month, but once they get old enough and it is the right time of year, we open the doors on the side of the building into a pen where they can run back and forth. Then, after they get about 8-10 weeks old we can put them out in bigger fenced enclosures where they are free to roam on an acre or two. It’s a pretty natural setting for them.”
Yet Tim isn’t too concerned about their escaping.
“Although a wild turkey is capable of flying several hundred yards at a time and can get up in the trees 100-200 feet high, these birds are domesticated and because they are eating pretty well there is not a lot of motivation for them to go anywhere. They have a tendency to put the weight on and get too heavy to fly. The little guys, the petites, between 6-9 weeks can fly for a little while and can clear the fences…but once they get out they want back in.”
It’s true; these turkeys would have to be crazy to want to leave this foothill paradise of green pastures and still waters. Ironically, the only way they do leave is by losing their heads. But it’s all part of the process…
“We do it all,” said Tim. “The breeding, eggs, growing, feeding, processing, distributing – everything. It is a lot of work, and during the busy season we have about 200 people working for the ranch.”
This includes the help of his wife Joan, his sons Jason and Garret and his daughter Heidi. Tim is the third generation of his family to raise turkeys in the foothills and it looks as if the tradition will continue.
“We are one of the last small, family-owned, turkey grower-processors in the United States,” he said. “There aren’t many left.”
Yet whether the tradition of raising turkeys stays in the Diestel family or not, the family knows that at least once a year a turkey will bond them together on Thanksgiving.
“We definitely do the big family get together with the big turkey every year,” said Tim. “Our family always gets a 40-45 pound tom – it makes quite a show. You definitely have to have a big oven, but once you put that thing out on the table people get excited and even start taking pictures. It’s fun. We like to eat a lot of turkey and it’s always a good time.”
Yet the biggest turkey they’ve had tipped the scales at 60 pounds, dressed and ready to eat. The typical American, who is also dressed and ready to eat, is said to consume 13.3 pounds of turkey each year…with a hearty helping devoured at Thanksgiving. For those, like myself, who haven’t had much turkey this year (maybe a pound or two), this is good news! I look forward to reaching my quota soon!
Those interested in a Diestel turkey of their own can visit the ranch at 22200 Lyons Bald Mountain Road in Sonora. The salesroom hours are 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday (but hours vary during the holiday season). For more information, call 532-4950.
Yet whether your Thanksgiving meal consists of turkey, tofurkey or a TV dinner, don’t take this special day for granted
