Minnesota is known as the “Land of 10,000 Lakes” because it literally has over 14,000 bodies of fresh water within its borders. The northernmost contiguous state in the union is also an agricultural powerhouse, ranking sixth in the nation in the value of products sold. A large producer of corn and soybeans, Minnesota claims to have the most food cooperatives per capita in the U.S. Chances are also high that a few of your favorite holiday recipes get a little help from Minnesota farmers every year – the state is the #1 producer of both turkeys and sugar beets.
Turkey – In 2023, Minnesota turkey numbers reached 39 million birds, accounting for 18% of all turkeys produced in the U.S. Additionally, the state exported over $100 million in turkey products to global market, accounting for about 13% of the state’s total turkey production. In 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. Historians note that these early pioneers were taking great gambles with the weather. Young birds were started in brooder houses and then moved onto open ranges with limited shelter from the harsh northern climate. In 1940, the “Armistice Day Blizzard” dropped 27 inches of snow in Minnesota, killing 1.5 million turkeys intended for Thanksgiving dinners. The upside to the weather disaster that almost wiped out the state’s fledgling turkey industry is that it prompted the Farm Owners Mutual Insurance Company (later Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance) to begin offering fire and storm insurance on flocks in 1942. The insurance coverage is credited with encouraging the growth of Minnesota’s commercial turkey industry. In the late 1950s, growers adopted the Clinton pole barn and began to raise flocks indoors, which has since become standard procedure. The large metal buildings sheltered the birds in a temperature-controlled environment equipped with automatic feeders and water stations. They also prevented wild bird diseases and enabled growers to raise more flocks each year. The turkey industry has had a major impact on related Minnesota businesses. Millions of dollars’ worth of corn and soybeans becomes turkey feed. The world’s second largest turkey processing company, Jennie-O Turkey Store, Inc., has its headquarters in Willmar. Hormel Foods bought the company in 1986 and merged it in 2001 with a later acquisition, The Turkey Store. Minnesota is also home to one of the world’s largest turkey hatcheries, the Willmar Poultry Hatchery. Not surprisingly, the ongoing avian influenza outbreak has been tough on Minnesota’s turkey industry. Since 2022, Minnesota has lost nearly 7 million turkey birds to bird flu.
Sugar Beets – A lot of the sugar consumed by Americans comes from sugar beets and most of those are grown in Minnesota. In 2023, the states sugar beet production of 12.7 million tons set a new record. The state has led the nation in sugar beet production for more than 30 years and it is the state’s third-most-valuable crop after corn and soy. The sugar beet root is related to regular beet root but they are very different vegetables. Sugar beets are white, and manufacturers tend to use them for extracting sugar and sweetening processed foods. It is not possible to extract sugar from beetroot, which is mostly red or gold. When fully grown, a sugarbeet is about a foot long, weighs two-to-five pounds, and is about 75% water, 5% pulp and up to 20% sugar. In the 18th century, German chemists discovered how to form sugar crystals from pulverized beets. The resulting sucrose crystals mirrored the sugar that had been derived from sugar cane for millennia, but were much less expensive than importing cane from the tropics. The innovation helped launch the European sugar beet industry — which was later exported to North America. Today, beets provide about 60% of the white table sugar produced domestically, according to the USDA. If not specified on the label, sugar purchased at stores is likely from beets or a blend of beet and cane. The quality and taste of the sugar extracted from sugar beets is nearly identical to that pressed from sugar cane. About 3,500 family farms in Minnesota grow sugar beets for three cooperatives that were all formed in the 1970s: American Crystal Sugar; Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative; and Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative. Each co-op processes sugar from sugar beets and is fully farmer-owned. (Sources: Minnesota Turkey Growers Association, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, American Sugarbeet Growers Association)
