With a name like Crowe it's no wonder the Co Tipperary family got into the bird business.
The third-generation farming family began rearing turkeys five years ago, and now keep 2,000 organic free-range bronze turkeys in Dundrum.
John Paul Crowe said rearing the turkeys was easier than normal this year thanks to the fine weather.
“It has been a great year. We got the turkeys out to pasture about a week earlier this year because of the hot weather.
“They really loved being out all day. When it’s cold or wet you’ll see birds hanging by the ditch where there’s shelter, but this year they ranged all over the field.”
The gobbling noises will cease this weekend when the turkeys are taken away for slaughter, but the success of the business means that the Crowe family is now planning to build its own turkey abattoir.
“Please God everything will be sold this year and we’ll be allowed to increase numbers next year,” he said.
Their delivery service means that they have received orders from Donegal to Cork.
“We just finished an order for turkeys going to Armagh. Business is growing every year, thank God, and the customers just keep coming back.”
Irish people are expected to eat about 800,000 turkeys this Christmas, but last December 168,000 of those turkeys were imported, manly from Italy.
Crowe said these imported birds were taking business from farmers who reared 40 or 50 birds because they could not compete on price.
“And realistically you are not comparing like with lirke. We get our birds in the middle of June and they go to slaughter in the middle of December so that’s six months.
“But the imported birds are a hybrid, bred to put on weight as quickly as possible and kept in unnatural lighting and ventilation to encourage them to grow fast. It’s a case of get them in, get them out at the lowest price possible.”
Love Irish Food chief executive Kieran Rumley said he had often heard customers asking butchers if the turkeys being sold were Irish.
“Without the benefit of country of origin being made clear, or the Bord Bia Quality Assurance mark to identify where the turkey originates, the shopper has to accept what’s being said. Is it Irish, British or Italian?”
Love Irish Food has drawn up a certificate of provenance to accompany every turkey sold by the Crowe farm. Mr Rumley said people should always question where their turkeys come from, and dig deeper if they believe their butcher is not telling the truth.
“Knowing where our food comes from is what Irish shoppers are looking for, and at Christmas this is more important than ever, particularly for the purchase of the all-important turkey.”
Agri Aware has started a new "Buy Irish" food campaign, asking people to buy quality and sustainably-produced Irish food this Christmas.
Its chairman, Richard Moeran, who also rears organic turkeys, urged consumers to think of the farmers behind the food in the coming weeks.
“Source a high-quality Irish turkey, stay with our traditional Irish vegetables, and make sure your roast potatoes are home-grown.”
Not surprisingly, John Paul Crowe’s Christmas dinner is already sorted.
“I always make a point of picking out the turkey myself and dry-plucking it two weeks before Christmas, and leaving it hanging with my name on it. You would have to or it would be gone.”
