Governor Branstad pardons two Iowa turkeys in annual tradition

DES MOINES - It's a good time to be a turkey in Iowa.

The turkey industry has recovered from the avian influenza that decimated flocks in 2015.

And four Iowa turkeys will be spared places as - ahem - guests of honor at the Thanksgiving table this year thanks to pardons from Gov. Terry Branstad and President Barack Obama.

Branstad pardoned two Iowa-raised turkeys, an annual Thanksgiving-week tradition, on Monday morning at the governor's mansion on Terrace Hill in Des Moines.

The two turkeys chosen to be spared the carving knives are named Bryant and Rizzo, a nod to Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo of the World Series champion Chicago Cubs.

The turkeys come from the farm of Noel Thompson of Ellsworth, Iowa.

'I, Terry E. Branstad, governor of the state of Iowa, do hereby proclaim Rizzo the turkey and Bryant the turkey free from the harm of the carving knives and gravy for this Thanksgiving Day,” Branstad declared Monday.

Meantime, two more Iowa turkeys were chosen to be pardoned by Obama in the annual ceremony at the White House on Wednesday.

Those lucky birds, who will be named by the president and his staff, are from the farm of Chris and Nicole Domino in northwest Iowa near Early. The Dominos' farm was chosen for the presidential pardoning ceremony by the chairman of the National Turkey Federation.

Gretta Irwin, executive director of the Iowa Turkey Federation, said it is the seventh time an Iowa turkey has been pardoned by the president.

Iowa farmers produce 11 million turkeys annually, the eighth-most in the nation.

In 2015, the avian flu caused the death of more than 1 million turkeys in Iowa. Irwin said Monday that the industry has rebounded.

'This year's been a really great year for the Iowa turkey industry. Our numbers continue to increase in our turkey production, and we've added a few more farmers in Iowa, which is always great,” Irwin said. 'It's doing quite well right now in Iowa.”