Let’s talk turkey: Software developed by alum provides farmers a sixth sense
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By Kate Arthur
November 3, 2023
The day he graduated from college, Jason Yordy ’07 told his dad he was ready to return to the family farm. But his dad’s response surprised him. He told him to find a job elsewhere.
“That was a blessing in disguise,” the younger Yordy said.
With a degree in agribusiness from Illinois State University, Yordy joined Caterpillar in Peoria as a heavy equipment operator, later transferring to Mossville as an engineer where he worked on the autonomous mining truck program. Feeding his curiosity about technology changed everything.
Yordy never stopped doing chores at the family’s Morton turkey farm, feeling the crunch of white gravel under his feet as he did as a boy, walking the barns where he’d grind and mix feed, empty water dishes, and check on the health of 6,000 turkeys.
On one of those days, he considered what little data farmers had on their flocks. Generations had used their senses to determine the growth and health of their birds, recording food and water consumption on a clipboard hung on a nail. Yordy asked his dad why they didn’t have more data, like the birds’ average weight. That’s when his dad gave him another good piece of advice. “Why don’t you figure that out?” he said.
That question led to Yordy developing TurkeyTrac, a software program that combines experience with technology, providing real-time data on factors that impact the health, growth, and profitability of the flock. The program can detect a health issue two to four days before it could be discovered in the barn, Yordy said.
And in 2013, something else happened. Yordy got the call he’d been waiting for. His dad, Mike Yordy, asked if he’d be interested in returning to the farm full-time.
Now, more than 100 turkey farmers across the United States and Canada are using TurkeyTrac. It’s a tool and vital supplement for those walking their barns 365 days a year.
“It provides a sixth sense,” Jason Yordy said.
TurkeyTrac is a program designed by Jason Yordy that provides turkey farmers with up-to-the-minute data on their flocks, including average weight, and food and water consumption. The program also alerts growers to health issues days before they might be detected in the barn.Using his background in poultry production, agribusiness, and engineering, Jason Yordy created TurkeyTrac, currently used by about 100 turkey growers throughout North America. It allows farmers to track and analyze the performance of their flocks.The TurkeyTrac software features a dashboard that displays data in real time, tracking the performance of the flock, showing the average weight, as well as how much food and water the birds have consumed. Corn grown and milled at the family farm produces about 2.3 million pounds of feed annually. Each bird eats about 110 pounds. Their diet is changed eight times in the 20 weeks to maturity. Quiet chirps can be heard from more than 6,000 three-day-old poults scattered among the wood shavings in the brooder barn, a heated enclosure used to raise young poultry. Jason Yordy dumps water from the red dishes, a color that attracts the birds. Although the farm has changed throughout five generations, it has always been owned and operated by the Yordy family. Jason Yordy and his wife, Tricia, are renovating the farmhouse he grew up in. His sister, Sara Cowley, works as secretary of “everything that happens on the farm,” he said. Tricia Yordy holds one of the young birds that will grow from a few ounces to about 47 pounds in 18 to 20 weeks. Collecting the average weight of the birds is a challenge as they jump on and off scales suspended about 6 inches off the ground. An algorithm calculates the average weight.Jason Yordy represents the fifth generation of turkey farmers at the family owned and operated Morton farm. His children, Maverick, 7, and Ella, 16, have chores like he did growing up, walking among the flock, and watering and feeding the birds. Maverick helps his dad close the door on the barn holding about 5,500 birds. The 7-year-old is among the sixth generation raised on the Morton turkey farm owned by Jason Yordy’s parents, Mike and Jenny Yordy. The farm has a capacity of 15,000 turkeys.Jason Yordy calls his dad, Mike Yordy, far right, “the turkey whisperer.” When Jason graduated from Illinois State, Mike told him to get some experience in the business world before coming back to the farm. All members of the Yordy family play a role on the farm, including Jason’s wife, Tricia, and their children, Maverick and Ella.