Scientists imagine that the domestication of the turkey began with the traditional Maya in Central America, possibly as early as 300 BCE–100 CE. Early inhabitants of what’s now the southwestern portion of the US raised domesticated turkeys as early as 200 BCE–500 CE. Archaeological evidence suggests that early civilizations valued turkeys more for his or her feathers, likely used for ceremonial purposes and clothing embellishment, than for food. They might have used turkey bones to create beads, musical instruments, and tools.
Within the early twentieth century, Minnesota growers raised small flocks of turkeys on family farms. Between 1910 and 1920, U.S. farmers raised 3 million turkeys annually. With the introduction of enormous business incubators within the mid-Thirties, the variety of eggs hatched every year quickly grew and more farmers began to lift turkeys. Most eggs got here into Minnesota from other states at the moment, bringing with them egg-transmitted diseases.
Diseases comparable to blackhead (histomoniasis) and avian tuberculosis posed serious threats. Within the Twenties, Dr. Ruel Fenstermacher, the primary director of the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory on the University of Minnesota, and Dr. L. E. Jenkins worked with the Minnesota Board of Animal Health to develop programs to regulate these diseases.
In 1935, the federal government began the National Poultry Improvement Plan with the goal of eliminating pullorum-typhoid, an infectious bacterial disease, from turkeys and other forms of poultry. The disease first surfaced in Minnesota turkeys in 1928 and have become a scourge over the following twenty years. When fowl typhoid appeared in Minnesota in 1935, the university’s Diagnostic Lab began a study of salmonella bacterial infections in turkeys that led to a state-funded disease control program in 1943.
Like all Minnesota farmers, early turkey growers gambled with the climate. Young birds began in brooder houses after which moved onto open ranges with limited shelter from harsh weather. The 1940 Armistice Day Blizzard caused large losses to Minnesota’s fledgling turkey industry. It worn out many flocks and prompted the Farm Owners Mutual Insurance Company (later Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance) to start offering fire and storm insurance on flocks in 1942. Insurance coverage encouraged the expansion of Minnesota’s business turkey industry.
Within the late Fifties, growers adopted the Clinton pole barn and started to lift flocks indoors, which has since turn into standard procedure. The big metal buildings sheltered the birds in a temperature-controlled environment equipped with automatic feeders and water stations. Additionally they prevented wild bird diseases and enabled growers to lift more flocks every year.
Because the industry grew, so did the necessity for information. University of Minnesota Extension veterinarian Dr. William M. “Doc” Billings led a bunch of farmers to form the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association (MTGA) in January 1939 through the University’s Farm and Home Week in St. Paul. The primary board of directors included Billings and leading growers Clem Thurnbeck, Sven Ranelius, Graydon McCulley, and others. The organization elected Robert Bowden as its first president. MTGA secretary Roy Baumgartner initiated a monthly newsletter for members that grew into the Gobbles magazine.
The National Turkey Federation (NTF) appointed a committee in 1941 to develop a National Turkey Improvement Plan. It set goals of expanding production, improving disease control, and increasing market quality. With the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture’s approval, it launched two years later.
Minnesota adopted the plan in 1945 with supervision by the Minnesota Poultry Improvement Board. The University of Minnesota Diagnostic Laboratory then arrange a breeder-hen research program. Over the following 4 a long time, avian pathologists L. E. Jenkins, Benjamin S. Pomeroy, and staff made great strides in the world of disease diagnosis and prevention, particularly within the control of egg-transmitted diseases.
In 1949, Graydon McCulley became the primary Minnesotan to carry the office of President of the NTF. That November, he and a bunch representing his organization and the Poultry and Egg National Board traveled to Washington, D.C., to present President Harry S. Truman with a Minnesota-grown Thanksgiving turkey.
The presentation has turn into an annual event. President John F. Kennedy began the annual turkey “pardoning” ceremony, sparing the birds from gracing a Thanksgiving table. Minnesota has an analogous tradition, with a turkey presentation to the governor each November. Those birds don’t receive a pardon, nevertheless; they go to local food shelves for families to enjoy on Thanksgiving.
The turkey industry has had a significant impact on related Minnesota businesses. Tens of millions of dollars’ price of corn and soybeans becomes turkey feed. Seven meat processing plants within the state produce greater than 1.2 billion kilos of turkey every year and supply 1000’s of jobs. The world’s second largest turkey processing company, Jennie-O Turkey Store, Inc., has its headquarters in Willmar. Earl B. Olson founded the corporate in 1949 and named it after his daughter, Jennifer. Hormel bought the corporate in 1986 and merged it with a later acquisition, The Turkey Store (formerly Jerome Foods, Inc.). Other Minnesota processing corporations include Turkey Valley Farms and Northern Pride, Inc.
Minnesota can also be home to one in all the most important turkey hatcheries on the planet. In 1945, farmers Albert Huisinga, Albin Norling, and Herman Nelson began Willmar Poultry and Egg Company to process their very own birds and produce turkey poults (baby turkeys) for local growers. The corporate acquired hatcheries in other states and merged with AgForte in 2009. The corporate merged with Aviagen in 2017 to turn into Select Genetics, with the capability to provide 48 percent of U.S. turkey poults. It produces 137 million poults a yr.
Within the Fifties, processors began to supply latest products produced from turkey, including ground turkey, hot dogs, sausage, turkey ham, and other items. More products meant more promoting. In 1956, the MTGA hired home economist Arlene Stansfield to advertise turkey through cooking demonstrations and recipes. The MTGA auxiliary group, Minnesota Gal Gobblers (later Minnesota Women for Turkey), founded in 1976, actively promotes turkey products.
The Minnesota State and Federal Crop Reporting Service began in 1949. This service keeps such records because the variety of breeder hens and the variety of turkeys raised for market. Minnesota turkey production soared from 3.6 million birds in 1950 to greater than 14 million only a decade later.
In 1959, Minnesota received its first top rating in turkey production within the U.S. with greater than 13 million raised, a position it consistently holds. By 2016, annual production totaled 45 million birds raised by 450 growers on 600 farms. Top turkey-producing counties in Minnesota include Kandiyohi, Stearns, Morrison, Lyon, Ottertail, Rice, Meeker, Becker, Redwood, and Brown.
The industry generates a complete of $866 million every year in money receipts. Minnesota exports about eight percent of all turkey produced to such countries as Mexico, China, and Canada. In 2014, the worth of those exports totaled $92 million.
An outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (bird flu) in March 2015 hit the industry hard. Growers lost greater than 9 million turkeys on 110 quarantined farms in twenty-three counties. Governor Mark Dayton declared a peacetime emergency on April 23, activating the State Emergency Operations Center. The U.S. Department of Agriculture paid $60.8 million in compensation for healthy birds destroyed to stop the spread of the virus.
For more information on this topic, take a look at the unique entry on MNopedia.