WILLMAR — Each year the president of the United States pardons a pair of turkeys prior to Thanksgiving. This year's pardoned turkeys will be two lucky birds from Willmar's Jennie-O Turkey Store .
For decades, turkey growers from around the country have sent their best birds to the White House, where some were pardoned while others became part of the White House meal. The first turkey to be pardoned was sent to President Abraham Lincoln.
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The first turkey provided by the National Turkey Federation was sent 76 years ago to President Harry Truman. In 1989 the tradition of pardoning the turkey was formalized by President George H.W. Bush, 200 years after George Washington proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving.
“The annual presentation of the National Thanksgiving Turkey to the president of the United States has become a highly anticipated tradition in the nation's capital, signaling the unofficial beginning of the holiday season and providing President Biden, the first lady and the nation an opportunity to reflect publicly on the meaning of Thanksgiving and the bounty of American agriculture,” said Jose Rojas, vice president, live production at Jennie-O Turkey Store, in an email to the West Central Tribune.
This year’s pair of turkeys are from close to home. Two Jennie-O turkeys from a farm in central Minnesota will make the trip to Washington to be pardoned by President Joe Biden. The two birds were hatched in July and raised in a Jennie-O-owned flock at an undisclosed location.
“Our team and Jennie-O are very proud to raise the presidential birds this Thanksgiving. We have some of the best production professionals in the industry and are honored to be a part in this 70-plus year tradition,” Rojas said.
The 2022 National Thanksgiving Turkeys were Chocolate, a 46-pound turkey, along with Chip, a 47-pound turkey, both raised at the Circle S Ranch in Monroe, North Carolina. After their pardon, these two birds were retired to the North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina, where they remain under the care of veterinarians, faculty and students.
The two 2023 National Thanksgiving Turkeys will travel from central Minnesota to Washington, D.C., via a private coach, Jennie-O President Steve Lykken told the Star Tribune in August when the company made the announcement during the opening day of the Minnesota State Fair. The featured pair will then walk the red carpet to their pre-ceremony accommodations at the Willard InterContinental hotel, with the accommodations provided at the National Turkey Federation's expense.
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The Willard will put down a layer of plastic over the room's carpet and then cover it in wood chips, adjust the room temperature, and make the turkey guests feel as comfortable as possible before the big day.
During the ceremony, the turkeys will be presented to the president by Lykken, who is also the current National Turkey Federation chairman. Lykken will be joined by a group of leaders in Jennie-O’s live production team.
The presidential turkeys are raised in the same fashion as birds designated for slaughter and consume a grain-heavy diet of fortified corn and soybeans, according to the National Turkey Federation. Initially, a flock of up to 80 birds are selected to be acclimated to handle loud noises, flash photography and large crowds.
Later, the 10 to 20 best-preened and best-behaved are chosen for further environment training. Finally, the group is narrowed down to the two finalists, who are later named by schoolchildren via a White House contest.
The pardoned turkeys will be brought back to Minnesota after the ceremony. In the past, pardoned turkeys would go to a variety of different places: President Kennedy sent a turkey back to the farm it was raised on and President Nixon sent one to a petting zoo, according to the White House Archives.
This year’s turkeys will live on a campus farm at the University of Minnesota’s Department of Agriculture Science.
“The turkeys will receive comfortable housing along with daily care and access to veterinary services. Through this partnership, the presidential-pardoned turkeys will highlight the importance of agricultural education and help promote the role of the turkey industry and animal agriculture in America’s food system,” Rojas said.
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As Thanksgiving approaches, millions of Americans will take time to celebrate, dinner tables across Minnesota will be filled with locally raised turkeys, and two lucky birds will have something extra to be thankful for.
Minnesota is consistently ranked as the top turkey-growing state in the United States by growing about 42 million birds per year, according to the
Minnesota Turkey Growers Association,
which formed in 1939. The state boasts the largest number of independent turkey farmers in the nation with more than 600 turkey farmers generating more than $1 billion in economic activity and providing more than 26, 000 jobs.
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