AGRICULTURE REPORT- Turkeys and Thanksgiving

AGRICULTURE REPORT- Turkeys and Thanksgiving
By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Tuesday, November 23, 2004

I'm Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Americans will celebrate Thanksgiving Day this Thursday. The holiday tradition includes eating turkey. Some of the birds will be fried in oil or barbecued over hot coals. Most will be cooked in the oven.

 
Graphic¹ Image
Most farm-raised turkeys grow quickly. In fourteen weeks, a female turkey weighs seven kilograms and is ready for market. Hens are usually sold as whole birds. Male turkeys, or toms, are usually grown for eighteen weeks. They weigh more than fourteen kilograms. Toms are processed for meat products.

Some farms have started to raise what are called heritage turkeys. These more traditional kinds of birds take longer to raise and require more care. Some can be ordered over the Internet. The meat is at least four times the cost of other turkey. Often, heritage turkeys are raised on organic farms, where no chemicals are used.

Under federal law, turkeys and other poultry² cannot be given hormones³ to increase growth. But they may receive antibiotic⁴ drugs to fight infection and improve weight gain.

Turkeys once were served mainly during Thanksgiving and Christmas. Now people have a wide choice of products served all year.

Over the years, growers have developed turkeys that have more meat on their chest. These farm-raised birds are very different from their wild relatives. They cannot even reproduce without assistance. They are fertilized⁵ through the artificial insemination process.

Two-thirds of the cost to raise a turkey is spent on food. Farmed turkeys eat a mixture of corn and soybean with added vitamins and minerals. It takes about thirty-six kilograms of food to raise a fourteen-kilogram bird.

About eight percent of turkeys raised in the United States are exported. Mexico is the top importer. American turkey production is valued at three thousand million dollars a year.

Turkeys are native to North America. In the seventeen hundreds, Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey, and not the bald eagle, to be the national symbol.

But today it does have a place in national politics before Thanksgiving Day. Last week President Bush "pardoned" two turkeys in a ceremony at the White House. The National Turkey Federation⁶, an industry group, started this tradition in nineteen forty-seven.

This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Mario Ritter. I'm Gwen Outen.

1 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

2 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

3 hormones   

n. 荷尔蒙，激素 名词hormone的复数形式

参考例句：

• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body. 这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。
• The adrenals produce a large per cent of a man's sex hormones. 肾上腺分泌人体的大部分性激素。

4 antibiotic   

adj.抗菌的；n.抗生素

参考例句：

• The doctor said that I should take some antibiotic.医生说我应该服些用抗生素。
• Antibiotic can be used against infection.抗菌素可以用来防止感染。

5 Fertilized   

v.施肥( fertilize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The study of psychology has recently been widely cross-fertilized by new discoveries in genetics. 心理学研究最近从遗传学的新发现中受益匪浅。
• Flowers are often fertilized by bees as they gather nectar. 花常在蜜蜂采蜜时受粉。

6 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。