A Heritage of Innovation and Integrity
Prestage Farms is a multi-generational family-owned and operated turkey and pork producer and processor. Our foundation was laid with the innovative turkey production practices that Bill Prestage pioneered in the 1960s in a business that came to be known as Carroll’s Foods. These innovations included housing animals inside to ensure a safe and comfortable environment for their healthy growth, establishing mutually beneficial contracting relationships with local growers, and creating a vertically integrated production process to ensure consistently high-quality products that customers could trust. Bill Prestage eventually made these practices the cornerstone of his own turkey production business—in 1983, he and his wife, Marsha, and their sons Scott and John established Prestage Farms.
Those proven practices and an unwavering commitment to excellence have made Prestage Farms an industry leader. Today, the company produces and processes turkey and pork with a dedicated team of employees and growers across the South, the Southeast, and the Midwest. While Prestage Farms has grown and continues to change—always implementing new innovations in animal care, sustainability, and business operations—our commitment to responsibly producing top-quality turkey and pork endures.
Our Commitment to Excellence
Our Operating Philosophy
At Prestage Farms, we embrace the philosophy of doing our jobs well to achieve our mission: producing top-quality pork and turkey at a competitive cost while practicing responsible stewardship of our animals and the environment. To everyone on our team—employees, contract growing families, and Prestage family members—doing our jobs well means holding ourselves to the highest standards as we draw on our extensive knowledge of animal production and our practical experience to perform our duties. But it also means continually innovating and identifying opportunities to improve our operations so that we are always providing the best products to our customers, responsible care for our animals and the environment, and quality-of-life-enhancing support to our communities.
Photo credit: National Pork Board
Environmental Impact
We are committed to producing wholesome, delicious food in an environmentally responsible way. At our farm sites and facilities, we employ management practices that are science-based and proven through practical experience to protect air, land, and water quality. Throughout our production process, we take steps to reduce our environmental footprint, including driving smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles when possible and minimizing truck routes to decrease our fossil-fuel usage; utilizing digital data management and mobile platforms when appropriate to support waste-reduction efforts; and converting turkey litter to green energy at our Prestage AgEnergy facility. We continually assess our operations to find new ways to be more sustainable, so we can protect the environment and our industry and preserve a way of life for our farm families and future generations.
Animal Care
We prioritize the responsible treatment of our animals, and follow animal care best practices backed by research and supported by the National Turkey Federation and the National Pork Board. Our animals live in comfortable, well-maintained housing with free access to water and nutritious feed. Employees and growers are specially trained to handle and transport turkeys and pigs humanely, and every effort is made to prevent stress or pain throughout their lives. Both internal assessors and outside auditors monitor our adherence to our high standards of animal treatment.
Land & Nutrient Management
The goal of our land and nutrient management practices is to protect natural resources and ensure long-term sustainability. We create wildlife habitat on our farms that benefits animals and helps to reduce soil erosion and enhance water quality. Some of our North Carolina farms participate in the Wildlife Resource Commission’s C.U.R.E. Program, which supports habitat for various species, and Prestage Farms of Iowa collaborates with Iowa State University to provide on-farm monarch butterfly habitat. Our nutrient management practices involve recycling turkey and pig manure as fertilizer according to site-specific management plans consistent with state regulations. These nutrients are applied on our farmland for hay production and grazing cattle or that of our neighbors and contract growers on crops grown for use in livestock and poultry feed.
Photo credit: National Hog Farmer
Community Responsibility
We believe, as Prestage Farms team members and as a company, that we have a responsibility to be contributing members of the communities we call home. As such, we provide good work opportunities and support area businesses to help strengthen local economies. We donate time and resources to volunteer organizations; civic groups; fire departments; local hospitals; and arts, education, and agricultural programs. We’re proud to do our part to enhance our communities’ quality of life today and into the future.