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Construction begins on new Iowa State University turkey research and production facility
Construction of a new turkey research and production facility is underway at Iowa State University.
Dawn Koltes is an assistant professor in ISU’s Department of Animal Science.
“In this barn we’re going to be able to raise that poult from hatch all the way through processing, at which point they will be picked up by a commercial processor and put into the production system.”
The project is being funded through contributions from industry partners and private donors.
She tells Brownfield the turkey facility will help researchers look at feed efficiency, feed additives, and ways to prevent antimicrobial resistance.
“But one of the really cool aspects to this building that really makes it very unique is that we’re going to be able to do water additives. There’s not a lot of facilities in the U.S. that have the ability to test different water treatments. So we’re going to have the ability to test up to four different water treatments at one time.”
Koltes says if all goes according to plan, the new turkey facility will be up and running by the first quarter of 2022.
Iowa is the seventh largest producer of turkeys in the U.S. and the fifth largest processor.
