VIP: Very Important Poultry

Minnesota producer John Zimmerman raised last year's Presidential Flock, helping keep the state's turkey legacy strong.

- By Lisa Foust Prater

When Thanksgiving dinner is served, odds are good the main course came from Minnesota. No other state produces more turkeys: 33.5 million in 2024, according to the USDA. That's down from 39 million the previous year, after bird losses due to avian influenza. Around 100,000 of those turkeys were raised by John Zimmerman, who also grows corn and soybeans in the southeast part of the state.

Pampered Poultry

As the 2024 chair of the National Turkey Federation, Zimmerman had a very special assignment: raising a special Presidential Flock. After hatching in July, the birds were pampered, regularly and carefully weighed and measured, and given lots of attention by Zimmerman's son, Grant, and several neighbor kids.

In November, Zimmerman selected the flock's top two turkeys. The birds were loaded into the back of a van, and Zimmerman, Grant, and Peter Gruhl — an industry professional who has chauffeured Presidential Flock turkeys nine times — made the 1,000-mile trek to Washington, D.C.

As is the tradition, the birds and their chaperones spent the night in VIP accommodations at the Willard InterContinental Hotel in D.C. before being presented to — and, thankfully, pardoned by — President Joe Biden. The president named them Peach and Blossom.