A lot has changed since the first flock of turkeys landed at the Hill farm in 1947, but the family’s commitment to raising healthy, high-quality animal protein and their love and support for one another is a constant through good times and bad.

Nathan Hill, along with his wife, Betsy, and sons, Collin and Conner, now manage the day-to-day operations on their Hamilton County farm, raising 270,000 turkeys annually for West Liberty Foods. 

Nathan’s dad, Paul, keeps busy as chairman of West Liberty Foods, a farmer-owned grower cooperative that processes turkeys for deli and cold meat sales. 

But it was Hubert Hill, Paul’s dad, who started with turkeys.

“Hubert worked with a lot of livestock over the years,” Nathan said. “He had breeder hens, commercial turkeys, layers, cattle and hogs, along with his row crop acres.”

These days, the farm is successful thanks to the family’s willingness to adapt to changing consumer demands and animal care standards.

“We built our first turkey confinement in the 1970s, mostly...