Lee Turkey Farm in East Windsor, NJ, spans seven generations. The sixth generation, at the helm, is Ronny and Janet Lee. The farm was bought in 1868 by the Updike family. The Updikes’ only daughter, Lamatie Updike, married Ronny’s great-grandfather, Charles Lee.
From the 1860s to the 1900s, it was a subsistence farm with cows, horses, sheep, pigs and chickens. Then they decided to focus on tree fruit production. Half the farm became apple orchards, the rest mainly feed and grain crops. They sold apples to grocery stores in New Jersey and cider mills.
“At the turn of the century, nearly 95% of America was farms. Everyone had a couple of cows. If they needed something they didn’t produce, farmers bartered with their neighbors. [The Lees] had guinea hens, cows, chickens, sheep… no turkeys,” said Ronny Lee, 65.
In 1914, Congress passed the Smith-Lever Act, creating the Cooperative Extension service to enable land-grant universities to extend research and practical education to people where they lived.
Later, Levi Lee shouldered Lee Farm through the Great Depression, helped by his father, Charles.
In 1938, when Levi’s son Richard was 11, he joined the local 4-H. The only club left with room was the turkey club. He started with 30 turkeys and was hooked. He raised and sold turkeys at Thanksgiving and Christmas “New York dressed” – plucked but intact. He soon upgraded.
“He further processed them to get them oven-ready, with the help of my grandfather,” said Ronny, Richard’s son. By the time he graduated high school, Richard was selling 400 turkeys a year.
Immediately after high school, Richard was drafted into the army during World War II. During the occupation of Italy, he served 16 months as an army radio operator. He was gone for two years.
While Richard was serving, Charles passed away. Levi was worn out from taking care of Charles and the farm. “The Depression had set my grandfather Levi back. Levi believed the trees would carry them through. But the trees started to get old. He never bothered to replant during the Depression. They couldn’t afford to,” Ronny explained. “Following the Depression, the farm debt load had reached $5,000, with no foreseeable way of paying it off.”
When Richard returned home, Levi announced his plan to sell the farm to pay off debts and to start a new career as a public bus driver.
“Dad was heartbroken at the thought of selling the farm. He suggested raising turkeys by the thousands rather than just the hundreds.” Levi agreed to help his son, forming a partnership. By late 1959/early 1960, they had paid their debts.
To honor the “golden key” turkeys, they became Lee Turkey Farm. Richard said often, “If it wasn’t for the turkeys, we would never have pulled through.”
At their peak they raised 7,000, selling most live to local independent processors. They developed retail routes, selling oven-ready turkeys to Mom-and-Pop stores, markets and restaurants. In the 1960s, processors started closing due to stricter federal regulations, and small stores were gobbled up by supermarkets. The Lees adapted by reducing flocks to around 5,000, processing all their turkeys on-site as oven-ready and selling directly to consumers.
“Until that time, Dad had put all his efforts into turkey production. He rented the apple orchards to another farmer. He didn’t plant new trees. Upon cutting back on turkey production, he discontinued the rental agreement and took back control,” Ronny said.
The fruit was sold at a local auction. In 1963, Richard was fed up with the auction’s bidding practices. His solution? Transition the operation to U-pick.
In 1964, Lee Turkey Farm became New Jersey’s first U-pick farm to open to the public, with four acres of apple trees and three acres of peaches. They soon reduced the acreage of field corn on the remaining land to add nine acres of strawberries for U-pick.
“When I was in high school, Dad paid me minimum wage, but I always teased that I was worth more. One day, he pointed out an acre and said ‘You can grow crops on it. Whatever you grow, you can sell and keep the money.’”
Ronny’s first crop was pumpkins. Richard gave Ronny more and more ground. “I was introduced to a county ag agent who guided and helped me learn vegetable production. I went from putting out a couple hundred plants to thousands of plants – cantaloupes, watermelons, broccoli…”
Following graduation, Ronny asked Richard if he could be a partner. His father jokingly answered, “Do you own any land? Do you own any equipment? Do you have any capital? Then what do I need you for?”
Since Ronny paid no rent for land or equipment, and seeds were all he had to buy, he kept his yield’s profit. One night at supper he asked again “Can we be partners?” Again his father said no.
His mother Ruth, who still lives at the farm, kept the books. She suggested that Richard reconsider, as Ronny’s net income was now quite large. In 1984, they became partners.
“In the mid-1980s, peaches became more profitable than apples. Many New Jersey farms were taking out apples and putting in peaches,” Ronny said. Richard considered doing the same. Ronny commented that if everybody else was taking them out, they should be putting them in. Once again, a Lee father listened to his son to strengthen the farm.
Ronny Lee with the turkeys at Lee Turkey Farm in Windsor, NJ. Photo courtesy of Lee Turkey Farm
Ronny’s wife Janet helps run the farm market. His son Dylan is his right-hand man in all farm aspects. His daughter Charli (Lee) Decker helps with social media, marketing, processing, etc. His daughter Sadie (Lee) Osborne returns from Florida each year before Thanksgiving to help process turkeys.
They now raise 2,500 Nicholas Broad-breasted turkeys a year, a quick-growing breed with good feed conversion. Housed in two 60-by-200-foot open-faced pole barns erected by his father that once held 6,000 turkeys, there’s lots of room to run around and plenty of air circulation and sunlight.
Fed no antibiotics, growth hormones or fish meal, the birds are separated by age and fed different diets accordingly. Younger birds get a higher rate of soybeans for protein to improve bone strength; older birds get an increased rate of corn to bulk up and for juicy, tender meat.
Ronny’s saying is “The birds have a really good life, and only one bad day.”
The Lees make their own feed, a mix of purchased soybeans and homegrown corn as well as some purchased corn. They sell oven-ready turkeys year-round, as well as boneless breast meat, legs, giblets and more.
They guarantee their frozen turkeys will taste as good as their fresh turkeys because after they are processed and vacuum sealed, they are refrigerated for a minimum of 48 hours to age the meat, optimizing meat texture. Then they flash-freeze them at a very low temperature with circulating air to preserve the meat texture so it’s the same as fresh.
Ronny said, “The flavor comes from the corn, whether it’s beef or turkeys. The biggest complaint with turkeys is that they are dry. I say, they haven’t had mine. They are never dry.”
They used to process fresh turkeys for Christmas but stopped because Ronny didn’t fancy breaking ice off water troughs.
Today, the farm sells turkeys, fruits and vegetables, both in their on-site farm market and as U-pick. Ronny said, “I enjoy all parts of our farming operation because it’s so diversified and no two days are alike.”
For more information, access leeturkeyfarm.com.
by Laura Rodley
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