3 Things Minnesota Turkey Farmers Do in the Weeks Before Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving dinner starts long before anyone turns on the oven.
For Minnesota turkey farmers, the weeks before the holiday can be some of the busiest of the year.
Here’s what goes on at the farm before the turkey reaches your table.
1. Sending Birds to Market
Eric Sawatzke’s turkeys arrive on her Kensington farm in early August and leave for market within weeks or days of Thanksgiving, she told CBS Minnesota in November 2025.
Sawatzke, a sixth-generation farmer, raises 135,000 turkeys year-round, and 17,000 of her birds are served on Thanksgiving.
2. Presenting a Turkey to the Governor
The Minnesota Historical Society describes a turkey presentation to the governor each November.
On Nov. 25, 2025, Gov. Tim Walz received a tom named Gru at the Capitol, and the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association, the state’s growers’ group, joined him.
KEYC put Gru at over 40 pounds, while InForum listed the bird at 45 pounds, 3 pounds heavier than the previous year’s.
A 4-H student raised Gru.
KTTC reported that Walz called the event a turkey presentation, not a pardon.
The Historical Society says presented birds go to local food shelves, but the student told KEYC that Gru would come home for the family’s Thanksgiving table.
The same group donated 250 turkeys worth $10,000 to Second Harvest Heartland that year.
A Nov. 22, 2023 release from the governor’s office says the association’s president joined the presentation at the Capitol.
A Nov. 27, 2019 release says the association was donating $11,000 to Hunger Solutions Minnesota.
3. Taking Turkey Reservations
Ferndale Market is one farm’s example, not a statewide schedule.
Ferndale Market in Cannon Falls says it raises a special flock of turkeys each year and takes reservations for fresh birds starting Oct. 19, 2026.
The farm says its Thanksgiving turkeys are free-range and antibiotic-free, with no added salt, water or fillers.
You pick up reserved birds at the farm during TurkeyFest, which runs Nov. 20 through Nov. 25, 2026.
Minnesota’s Rule for Home-Processed Turkeys
University of Minnesota Extension says Minnesota lets people who process poultry at home sell up to 1,000 chickens, turkeys or geese to consumers within the state without inspection.
Uninspected poultry can’t be sold or exchanged across states.
Bird Flu Cases Since September
Minnesota’s Board of Animal Health asks commercial poultry producers to keep up strict biosecurity and says the most important step is preventing exposure to wild waterfowl.
Any unexplained increase in mortality, respiratory issues or twisted necks should be investigated.
Several of September’s Minnesota cases were commercial meat turkey flocks, according to WATTPoultry.
A Becker County flock of 44,300 was confirmed on Sept. 10, and a Kandiyohi County flock of 61,100 followed on Sept. 16.
The latest, a 77,200-bird commercial meat turkey flock in Stearns County, was confirmed on Sept. 28, the third Stearns County commercial turkey flock that month.
Minnesota had 17 commercial flocks affected by highly pathogenic avian influenza in 2026, eight of them in September, as of Sept. 30.
The state’s bird flu page links to a cases dashboard for anything newer.
On Sept. 16, 2025, the Board confirmed avian influenza in a Redwood County flock of around 20,000 turkey toms, a case it said wasn’t wholly unexpected as the state moved into the migration season for wild waterfowl.
In fall 2022, Chris Huisinga, a western Minnesota turkey grower, drove to Willmar every Monday with tracheal swabs in his pickup, the Star Tribune reported on Nov. 6, 2022.
Hens, Toms, and Market Weight
The Minnesota Turkey Growers Association says hens take typically 14 weeks to reach maturity and weigh 15 pounds, while toms take typically 18 weeks and weigh 38 pounds.
The National Turkey Federation says hens are typically processed and sold as whole birds.
Toms are often further processed into cutlets, tenderloins, turkey sausage, turkey franks and turkey deli meats.
Psst! How much do you know about the turkey industry? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Minnesota Turkey IQ
Answer eight questions on Minnesota’s turkey industry. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
What share of all U.S. turkey poults does the Minnesota Historical Society say one Minnesota hatchery company can produce?
Smaller Birds for Smaller Gatherings
Turkey producers are looking for more Friendsgiving-friendly products, according to a Minnesota Daily story that cites the growers association's 2023 fact sheet.
A Friendsgiving host might buy a boneless breast instead of a whole bird.
Hens are harvested by weight, so producers might keep them alive a little less time or adjust the feed ration so they grow more slowly.
Plants clean the meat in a series of baths of varying temperatures and shrink-wrap full birds and turkey breasts for the shelves.
A source says most people want a turkey that weighs somewhere between 12 and 16 pounds.
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