By Katie Scarvey
kscarvey@salisburypost.com
The 50-acre spread on Old Cress Road outside of China Grove operated by Lee and Domisty Menius has been part of the Menius family farm since the 1800s. These days though, the farm has a decidedly modern bent.
The Wild Turkey Farms way is definitely not agri-business as usual.
Aided by Robbie Menius, Lee’s brother, the couple is tapping into a growing “locavore” movement that supports small, local farms that market directly to consumers.
Despite its name, Wild Turkey Farms produces natural beef, pork, chickens, eggs, vegetables and honey.
There’s not a wild turkey in sight ó although there are some tame ones that will trail behind you around like a faithful dog. Turkeys are a fairly recent addition to the farm, a response to requests for Thanksgiving birds.
The farm’s name actually came from the sound of Lee’s old pickup truck ó one of his buddies told him that it sounded like a wild turkey when it was starting up.
Lee, Domisty and Robbie sell their products at farmers markets in Rowan and Davidson counties. They’re also tapped in to several food coperatives, one in Davidson and one in Salisbury, which buy the farm’s produce and meat for their members.
Business is good. The farm ramped up production this summer because of increasing demand. That’s meant long, long days for everyone involved, since both Lee and Domisty both have other jobs.
“This is a full-time hobby,” Lee says.
Domisty works for the Department of Transportation and Lee works for N.C. State University’s Center for Environmental Farming Systems in Goldsboro, a collaborative venture between N.C. State and the North Carolina Division of Agriculture. Lee works with meat producers in the state who, like him, are using a pasture-based model.
Lee and Domisty met as animal science majors when they were in college at N.C. State.
It’s hard to imagine how these two handle the demands of their regular jobs, raise their two young boys, Rosty and Charlie, and take care of never-ending farm chores. In the mornings, they drive from their home several miles away to do a quick feed and check-up. In the evenings, they’re often working until 9 p.m.
Lee’s parents and grandmother have homes on the farm. His grandmother, Hazel Menius, helps out with the chickens, trekking out several times a day to gather eggs.
The farm raises some beef cattle, which Lee finishes on grass ó as nature intended, he says. That produces leaner, healthier meat than finishing animals on grain, he says.
While pasture-raised beef isn’t that unusual, pasture-raised pork is. Most hogs are raised in hog parlors because, as Lee acknowledges, “It’s a lot easier to box animals in a building.”
He doesn’t mind the extra work of pasturing his pigs, though, because of the enhanced quality of the meat. Lee says that most studies show that even a little exposure to green grass adds significant health benefits to the meat.
They began raising pigs in 2002, when Domisty got a pig for Mother’s Day. The pigs they sell are a cross between Berkshire and Tamworth, which is a fairly rare heritage breed, Lee says. Although this cross produces smaller litters in comparison to some breeds, the meat has a superior taste, he says.
Chefs have taken notice. Recently Wild Turkey pork was chosen by Andrea Reusing, chef of the Lantern restaurant in Chapel Hill, to supply the pork for her entry in a Slow Food conference in San Francisco that was held over Labor Day weekend. At this huge event, chefs from around the country met to cook regional cuisine. Reusing choose to cook traditional Southern pork products, including cracklings and head cheese.
The Slow Food movement was begun by Carlos Petrini in 1989, in response to the opening of the first McDonald’s in Italy, near the Spanish Steps in Rome. The movement puts an emphasis on cooking seasonally and supporting local farmers.
The Bread Riot food cooperative in Salisbury is part of this trend toward building locally-based, self-reliant food economies. So-called “locavores” seek out locally grown and produced food.
Maria Thomson has been organizing Bread Riot’s meat-buying program. Thomson likes meat and wants the healthiest version of it she can find ó with no steroids and hormones.
Bread Riot divides an animal into four shares. A pig share is about 24-27 pounds of meat. A beef share is between 40 and 60 pounds.
Supporting local businesses is important to Bread Riot.
“I think local is better,” Maria says. “They are wonderful folks to work with.”
Lee feels the same way.
“We prefer that our customers be our neighbors,” he says.
The meat that she’s gotten from Wild Turkey Farm has been wonderfully lean, Maria says.
Although right now the co-op is buying animals several times a year, Maria would like to step that up to every few months.
Wild Turkey also raises chickens ó Bourbon Reds, an old heritage breed that originated in Kentucky, Lee says. In tests, the meat has been ranked as the best-tasting, Lee says.
Maria would agree. Wild Turkey chicken is “some of the most tender chicken breast I’ve ever eaten,” she says.Lee and Domisty sell the chickens whole, at about $4 a pound. Chickens are popular items, Domisty says, usually selling out by 9 a.m.
They do all the processing themselves, including the plucking. Lee recently invested in a $1,000 chicken plucker ó which gets the job done in 30 or 40 seconds instead of the 10 minutes it used to take them per bird to do by hand.
The chickens also provide droppings, naturally, which the farm uses as fertilizer. Some of the chickens are housed in a moveable pen. After the ground becomes soiled with droppings, the cage is simply moved to another spot.
With commercial fertilizer prices up from $180 a ton in 2000 to close to $1,000 now, chicken droppings are sounding pretty good to Lee and Domisty.
Treating their animals well is an important part of the Wild Turkey Farms philosophy.”The welfare of animals is first,” Lee says. Although animals may end up on the dinner table, “we make sure they have a good time until then.”
Wild Turkey Farms is certified by the Animal Welfare Institute, which has a set of rules, by species, for raising animals. Wild Turkey Farms has received the Animal Welfare Institute’s seal of approval for both beef cattle and swine; their poultry approval is pending.
Part of the Animal Welfare Institute certification is dependent on using approved slaughterhouses. Wild Turkey Farms must ship its animals to a facility in Pinetown for processing, since it’s the closest approved facility.
Producing natural meat is also important at Wild Turkey Farms. They are not certified organic, but strive to use a minimal amount of pesticides and antibiotics.
Plenty of restaurants would love to tap in to the locavore zeitgeist and buy meat from Wild Turkey Farms ó Lee gets inquiries frequently from chefs. Right now, though, Wild Turkey Farms simply can’t meet the demand.
“We could be 20 times bigger,” he says. Eventually, he’d like to make farming his full-time job.
People are beginning to realize, he says, that “if you want to see farms around, you’ve got to support farmers.”

You can find Wild Turkey Farms at the Salisbury or Davidson farmers markets. Outside of find them at the farmers markets, the easiest way to get in touch with Lee and Domistry otherwise is to e-mail wildturkey_farms@yahoo.com. If you e-mail them, they will put you on a list to receive an e-mailed newsletter.
You may also call 704-202-9348.