From Farm to Feast: Turkey Production in Full Swing at Local Farm

This story originally appeared in The Centre County Gazette.

HOWARD — With Thanksgiving Day celebrations on the horizon, Pole Cat Hollow Farm is preparing for the feast by raising about 150 turkeys to send to the dining room tables of Centre County families.

Nancy Kaltenbach and her husband Greg Stuber run their Liberty Township farm located at 898 Upper Pole Cat Rd., Howard, different from most — leading to improvements in the health and taste of their fowl.

“They start out inside for a little while and then move into big rain shelters that move every day, so they’re never living in their own waste,” Kaltenbach said. “They get out, they see sunlight, they get bugs.”

Once the turkeys grow large enough, they’re then able to free rein in the field and become healthier than turkeys raised in an enclosed barn.

“They have more vitamins because like people, the more you’re exposed to sunlight, the more nutrients your body can make and absorb from your food,” Kaltenbach said.

The week before Thanksgiving, the farm uses a local processor to sell turkeys fresh to the community. While they mainly sell whole turkeys, they also offer some parts for smaller families or those with unique traditions.

“We have one family that likes to smoke turkey breasts for Thanksgiving,” Kaltenbach said.

Kaltenbach and Stuber bought Pole Cat Hollow Farm in 2017, and have since been working to improve the soil, land and grow more animals in a healthy way with the process of regenerative agriculture.

Instead of depleting the land, regenerative farming improves the soil microbes by adding carbon, the local watershed by limiting erosion and the ground by ensuring animals are moving around and giving it periods of rest.

As far as the name Pole Cat Hollow Farm goes, Kaltenbach says they got it from one of the early farm owners.

“We found an obituary that said the person had died and lived in Pole Cat Hollow,” Kaltenbach said. “Our house is down a hollow and we’re like ‘Oh, that’s perfect,’”

While the current focus is on Thanksgiving turkeys, Pole Cat Hollow farm also raises chickens, pastured pigs, Katahdin sheep and Red Devon cattle.

“Everything moves as a group because one of the things we find in conventional systems is when you have animals in the same place for a long time, you get a parasite buildup,” Kaltenbach said.

Turkeys from Pole Cat Hollow Farm are available for pre-order on its website at www.polecathollowfarm.com. Pickup begins the Sunday before Thanksgiving at different locations in Altoona, Port Matilda, Julian, Boalsburg and at the farm itself.