No cattle to feed, just thousands of turtles for Iowa farmer
November 7, 1999

The Daily Ardmoreite - Ardmore, Okla.

BIRMINGHAM, Iowa (AP) -- Fred Millard Jr. is farming the land in southern Iowa his father once farmed. But there are no cattle here, just thousands of turtles. ''It's just like raising cattle,'' he said. ''You have to check them daily. ... You have to feed them.''

Millard owns Turtle Meat Inc., a business that caters to niche markets across the country.

Turtle meat is in demand, Millard said, and the prices are good.

''We can set about any price we want and sell the meat. It's that scarce,'' he said. ''With cattle, you're not guaranteed anything.'' Millard's father got into turtle farming after he sold off his dairy operation in the 1970s. Fred Millard Sr. said milk cows were too costly to care for, and turtles provided an attractive -- and cheaper -- alternative.

He bought back some land, remodeled milking barns and started anew. After selling his business to his son last year, he now runs a turtle farm in Oklahoma. Millard Jr., 31, and his wife, Brandy, buy turtles from commercial trappers. Soft-shell, snapping and painted turtles can legally be trapped in Iowa, where the Millards get most of their turtles. He bought about 189,000 pounds of live turtles this year, including more than 10,000 soft-shell turtles, which will be shipped live to restaurants and seafood retailers around the country. Painted turtles are sold as pets or for their shells.

Snapping turtles provide the most business. Millard said he bought 12,000 of them this year. Metal fencing surrounds the farm's 20 man-made ponds, plastic wire mesh covers the bottoms. The turtles are fed catfish and carp, the biggest expenses next to pond maintenance. Several part-time employees help slaughter the snappers in a converted milk barn. The meat is packed and frozen. So far this year, they've sold 60,000 pounds of snapper meat. It goes for $3.50 per pound on the bone, or $6 per pound deboned.

The meat is lean and low in cholesterol, he said. ''It's a real delicacy.'' Most of it is sent out of state to Illinois, Louisiana, California and Colorado, he said. Nearly all parts of the turtle are used, he said. Rattles, clocks and purses can be made from the top shell. Claws, shells and skulls are sold. Turtle livers sell as catfish bait. Intestines are ground and fed to turtles in the ponds. Turtle Meat Inc. is the only licensed plant of its kind in the state, said David Werning, an Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals spokesman. Millard also breeds turtles, hatching eggs in tubs filled with sand and releasing hatchlings into the wild when they are 1 year old.

''I would think this has some positive impact on local turtle populations,'' said Marion Conover, chief of fisheries at the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

For answers to questions, adoption forms, information sheets and other information, call American Tortoise Rescue at 800-938-3553. American Tortoise Rescue can be found online at www.tortoise.com.

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