A Family Farm Owned By The Greaney's That Was Established In 1983 In The Small Town Of Mercer In Maine
You will never catch Tracy Greaney picking out a frozen turkey for Thanksgiving at her local supermarket in Maine, mostly because she has 1500 of the gobblers running around her yard to choose from every November.
“She makes sure to grab the very best 18-pound turkey before people start coming to the farm to pick up their birds,” said Scott Greaney, who runs Greaney’s Turkey Farm in Mercer, Maine. “One year I sold all the best ones and she was furious with me.”
Luckily, Tracy can start eyeing the birds in early August when the poults- or chicks- arrive from Ohio.
“We used to have them delivered by the US Postal Service, but that didn’t work out,” Scott said. “So we drive halfway, to upstate New York and meet the truck. We pile our van up with about 2000 poults in the dark, because the temperature is cooler and they need to stay cold. If anyone saw us they might think we were doing a big drug deal.”
From August until early November the family of five- including 19-year-old Emily, Ben, 17 and Adam 13, pamper and feed the chicks with organic feed from Canada. They let them run free when it is safe and as they get older, the birds have the run of a five-acre pasture.
Serving turkey is an American tradition, and 88 percent of Americans surveyed by the National Turkey Federation eat turkey on Thanksgiving. 46 million turkeys are eaten each Thanksgiving, 22 million on Christmas and 19 million turkeys on Easter. In 2011, 736 million pounds of turkey were consumed in the United States.
“There is a lot of pride that goes into the entire process,” Emily Greaney said. “Seeing a project like this from start to finish is an amazing feeling. Not many people can say that they help raise 1400-1500 turkeys. Once you get to sit at Thanksgiving and reflect on the past few months, it's pretty great. There are some stressful times throughout the season, but all you can do is learn from those times and move on.”
Greaney’s Turkey Farm was established in 1983 in the small town of Mercer. Locals know the farm as the “Old Nelly Ford Farm” which was part of the Sandy River Settlement listed in the History of Mercer.
Scott says it is truly a “Family Farm” with old fashion values. Their three children have taken it on over the past few years, and now operate it. Along with their farming, responsibilities both Tracy and Scott work off the farm as registered nurses. Scott works as a psychiatric nurse and Tracy works as a community psychiatric nurse. Prior to starting the farm Scott attended Essex Agricultural and Technical Institute where he studied animal science. In his four years of study, Scott’s focus was poultry science and meat processing.
“I understand the stress the turkeys go through when we have to kill them,” he said. “We do it as quick and as humane as possible. We don’t give them any chemicals or hormones like some places do. People come out to the farm and watch them run. They’re really dumb birds, but they do taste good.”
Because, of course, no one buys a live turkey for Thanksgiving dinner-the entire family pitches in to prepare the birds for the oven- and customers often drive two hours to pick up the fresh birds.
“My favorite part of the year is when people come to pick up their turkeys and they’re second generation customers,” Scott said. “Sometime people come out here without reserving a turkey, but we try to take care of them by sending them to another farm. We try and do right by people, that’s what our family is about and that’s what our business is about.”
Somehow, after working 12-15 hour days and making sure the turkey’s stay alive- until it’s time not to be alive- the family still looks forward to sitting down to a turkey dinner on Thanksgiving.
“I never get tired of eating turkey,” Scott said. “Besides, I know the turkey I put on my plate is hormone-free and free range. I take pride in that and my family takes pride in it. Besides, turkey is delicious.”
Candice Reed
A graduate of Kelsey-Jenny College in Communications as well as a certified grant writer, Candice has written for The Los Angeles Times & The New York Times. She loves entertaining and all things French.
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