It wouldn’t be a Minnesota turkey pardon if the turkey actually had a happy ending.
Gru the turkey — the fat, feathery, 45-pound embodiment of an industry that contributes $1 billion to this state’s economy — strutted across Gov. Tim Walz’s reception room Tuesday afternoon. It was time for the traditional Thanksgiving turkey ... presentation because Minnesota does not pardon its turkeys.
“They’re big, beautiful and delicious,” Walz told reporters at Turkey Presentation 2025. “The centerpiece of the Thanksgiving tradition is the meal [and] the heart of that is, of course, turkey.”
The governor was flanked by representatives of the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association, including 16-year-old Shelby Barber, who spent the past 20 weeks raising Gru and getting him camera- and apparently dinner-ready.
After the ceremony, Gru returned with her to the family farm near Swanville, Minn. He will be the guest of honor, she said, on the family’s Thanksgiving table on Thursday.
Minnesota raises more turkeys than any other state. Turkeys vastly outnumber Minnesotans, and as Americans tuck in to their turkey dinners on Thursday, about 1 in every 5 will have a Minnesota farmer to thank.
Hundreds of needy families have reason to give thanks this week. Second Harvest Heartland distributed $10,000 worth of donated turkeys from the Turkey Growers to hundreds of households last week.
“This has been a very challenging year,” said Second Harvest Heartland CEO Sarah Moberg, whose team has scrambled to provide emergency food assistance to Minnesota families as thousands were in jeopardy of losing their federal food assistance during the government shutdown. That funding has been restored, but families still face deep budget cuts to federal food programs.
