Turlock has thrived on turkey

Foster Farms, which celebrated 75 years in the poultry business this week, is a relative latecomer in this city’s turkey history. The Turlock area has been a major producer for nearly a century, with companies of various sizes turning out whole birds and other items. Foster Farms has operated here since 1982 and today employs about 1,300 people at a pair of plants, but other producers have made a mark, too.”Turlock was always the turkey capital,” said Bill Mattos, president of the California Poultry Federation, based in Modesto. “The leaders of the community were turkey breeders, turkey growers, turkey hatchers.” Read More