In an age where “efficiency” is the buzzword in the poultry industry, it takes a radical person to admit that increased production does not necessarily lead to better production. Turkey grower and processor Diestel Family Ranch, based in Sonora, Calif., has held steadfast to this perspective since its founding in 1949, for much of that time competing with bigger, louder voices saying the opposite. In recent years, however, the debate has begun to evolve as consumers begin to equate certain sustainable practices with value.

For Diestel Family Ranch, this change was patiently awaited.

“We have been producing natural and organic products throughout our company’s history,” said Heidi Orrock (Diestel), fourth-generation family farmer at Diestel Family Ranch. “That’s kind of the basis of what we did and how we did it.”

Movement creators

Seventy-five years ago, Jack Diestel founded the family ranch with the philosophy that if you do good to the land and to the birds, they will do good to you. This state of mind has been passed down through generations. So when the demand for organic farming certifications exploded in the 1990s, it was only natural that Diestel Family Ranch would be one of them.

The Diestel family helped set the standards for organic poultry. They sold some of the first products to be labeled as USDA Certified Organic Poultry in 1999.

“When my parents worked in agriculture and they didn’t take antibiotics and were fed a vegetarian diet, it was very natural for us to not want to use chemicals or herbicides or synthetic pesticides in our farms or on our ranches,” Orrock said.

Orrock sees this moment in Diestel Family Ranch’s history as an example of the company’s commitment to being a pioneer in the field of sustainable agriculture. She acknowledges that going organic was “phenomenal,” but she still asks herself, “How can we do more?”

Orrock believes regenerative agriculture is another step toward the family business’s ongoing mission to improve.

“We are not the largest producer in the country and we will never be the largest producer in the country,” she said. “It’s not necessarily our goal to be the biggest. But our goal is to be the best, and our goal is to grow, evolve, and continue producing food with a mission.

Regenerated

Last summer, Diestel Family Ranch took a major step toward its goal by becoming the first turkey producer to achieve Regenified certification. Orrock explained that Regenified’s seal is the first third-party regeneration program to be recognized and accepted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) for single- and multi-ingredient products.

To achieve certification, Diestel Family Ranch met Regenified’s 6-3-4 standards – named after six soil health principles, three adaptive stewardship rules and four ecosystem processes.

“Regenerated certification is an important recognition of what has always differentiated Diestel turkeys from mass-produced poultry products,” Orrock said. “We are at the forefront of animal welfare and the highest environmental standards in the market to produce the leanest, cleanest and most delicious birds. »

Regenified’s certification process will help Diestel Family Ranch track its progress in advancing regenerative principles to improve biodiversity, soil health, water quality and nutrient density.

Soil regeneration at Diestel Family Ranch begins with feeding turkeys corn. (Source: Diestel Family Ranch)

Centered on the ground

This initiative was first launched after Jason Diestel, another fourth-generation farmer at Diestel Family Ranch and brother of Orrock, began researching organic waste diversion. He looked for ways to better distribute organic waste from Diestel Family Ranch, like bird feathers or pine wood shavings from the barn. Through connections he made with professionals in the field of soil health, Diestel learned how to make high-quality humus compost from organic waste.

Diestel Family Ranch has since begun producing nutrient-rich compost, which it sells and donates to the surrounding community. Currently, the farm diverts 2,117 tons of waste from landfills each year and produces approximately 6,350 tons of compost for local use.

In seeking to improve soil structure and health, Diestel Family Ranch adopted different practices that correspond to regeneration today, even before the regenerative movement came into play.

“We developed this very natural conversation around, ‘Well, wait a second, soil health doesn’t have to be compost that you reapply. This could be something that we regenerate over the duration of our impact,” Orrock said.

Diestel Family Ranch began implementing this theory through a pasture breeding program based on their family ranch nearly ten years ago, which has been successful but not without challenges. The company struggled with how to expand the program, how to keep pastures green and how to rotate birds.

The Diestel family began talking to experts about the regenerative space, which turned out to be the missing piece of their puzzle.

“What we are so grateful for about the Regenified team is that many of the members of this group are real farmers,” Orrock said. “And so when we started talking to them about what it meant to be regenerated, it was like we landed on the moon in a sense because there was so much collaboration. When you work in the agricultural sector, you might think that there is a lot of collaboration, but that is not always the case. Sometimes you really are on your own trying to figure things out.

Through this partnership with Regenified, Diestel Family Ranch was able to find a way to expand its pasture breeding program.

“It seems like such a long time coming and such a reward to be the number one turkey producer in the country, but also to continue to have these conversations and really push for better and more,” Orrock said.

Soil regeneration at Diestel Family Ranch begins by feeding the birds corn, grown by local farmers. Earlier this spring, the company purchased 650 tons of certified regenerated corn for its animal feed. By 2035, the farm plans to replace half of its feed with certified regenerated corn.

Other company initiatives include mimicking the birds’ natural habitat. Diestel Family Ranch set out to create a shaded environment that replicates the trees of a forest. All birds on the property have access to open land that includes more than two miles of evergreen and perennial shrubs, grasses and flowering trees. The plants have been specifically selected to promote biodiversity: attract beneficial insects, improve water quality and create a diverse and functional landscape.

As for bird health, Diestel Family Ranch uses probiotics rather than traditional chemicals to support a healthy ecosystem.

Diestel Family Ranch produces about 350,000 turkeys around Thanksgiving. (Source: Diestel Family Ranch)

Thanksgiving Summary

Diestel Family Ranch produces about 350,000 turkeys, especially around Thanksgiving. Because the company works so hard from the start of production, right down to how the turkeys are raised on the farm, Diestel Family Ranch tries to keep processing to a minimum so the poultry itself can shine.

“Our processing – whether it’s primary processing or further processing – we really try to have a quality approach with minimal additives and as minimal processing as possible to take advantage of the nutritional density that turkey should have,” Orrock said.

Through this approach, Diestel Family Ranch seeks to get more protein and less sodium by using quality ingredients and having a very strict list of items they refuse to use.

The company’s primary processing is primarily done by hand in a large butcher-style facility. Building on old-school tactics, Diestel Family Ranch incorporates an ice cooling method for a clean and efficient way to cool birds quickly without absorbing a large amount of water.

“Most of the time our water usage is about one and a half percent,” Orrock noted. “But we label 3%, while most producers can label up to 6% in poultry. So we have very minimal water absorption on our whole turkeys and we use as few chemicals as possible, while still testing for the USDA with bacterial load where we need it.

As the family business prepares for its busy season, they also have innovation in mind. The traditional whole turkey is most popular during the holidays, but to keep that momentum going year-round, the company plans to launch a few new products to meet consumers’ everyday use of meats. The first product in the pipeline is a ground turkey rejuvenator product. To follow this, Diestel Family Ranch plans to introduce regenerative charcuterie.