10-26-2023 Howard - Flipbook - Page 49
BY ABIGAIL GRUSKIN
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KARL MERTON FERRON
Howard Magazine
housands of turkeys squabbled and gobbled
at Sho Nuf Turkey Farm in late September,
making space for Damascus resident Chris
Bohrer as he entered one of their barns to show them
off.
It’s November, however, when the energy at Bohrer
and his wife Tanya’s farm reaches a peak.
“People are willing to wait in line 30 minutes, just to
buy a turkey” in the days leading up to Thanksgiving,
Bohrer, 54, said. After decades of shopping at grocery
stores for convenience, “now, people are reverting
back to … wanting to know where their food is
coming from.”
The Bohrers’ farm is one of a handful in Howard
County that put turkey, beef, vegetables, wine and
more on local tables during the fall and through
the holiday season. Buying locally raised meat and
produce is one way for residents to get the freshest
food — and to give their neighbors a boost.
“You’re supporting number one, local business, but
in this case, local agriculture,” said Bohrer, a retired
Montgomery County police officer in his 36th year
working on the Fulton turkey farm.
Sho Nuf Turkey Farm got its start in 1938, under
a different name, when Tanya Bohrer’s grandparents
received turkeys as a wedding gift. Today, it’s still a
family-run operation.
Starting in late June, the farm received batches of
day-old “poults,” or young turkeys, every three to four
weeks through August, primarily from a hatchery
in Harrisonburg, Virginia. During their lives on the
farm, when they’re mature enough, the turkeys are
free to roam outside their barns.
“Our turkeys aren’t stressed,” Bohrer said. Rather
than being driven on a truck to a processing plant
miles away, Sho Nuf turkeys are processed on site.
“We’ll open a door to the barn and they’re naturally
curious; they’ll come outside and they’ll find the
easiest way to go [to the processor].”
When the antibiotic-free birds are sold to be cooked
for Thanksgiving meals, they’re “very, very juicy,”
Bohrer said. He attributes that to Sho Nuf birds being
chilled in ice and water at a less-rushed pace than at
some other processing plants.
Bohrer’s greatest expense, he said, is the birds’
feed — costing about $300,000 per season. Because
turkeys are a “fickle creature,” the most difficult part of
raising them is keeping them alive. To predators like
foxes and skunks, the barns full of turkeys look like
a “buffet” and last year, avian influenza took a toll at
many hatcheries.
Around 20,000 turkeys are raised each year
on Bohrer’s farm and most are sold ahead of
T
A hubbard squash rests atop
some of the locally sourced
produce in a display styled
by Casey Caulder at Breezy
Willow Farm.
howardmagazine.com | Fall 2023 |
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