Pair of turkeys receive pardons from Gov. Branstad following rough year

DES MOINES — Noting at least a few of them deserve a break after a rough year for turkeys in Iowa, Gov. Terry Branstad on Monday pardoned two turkeys — Spike and Zoey — in a Thanksgiving week tradition.

In a ceremony at the governor's Terrace Hill mansion, Branstad recalled the bird flu that decimated turkey and chicken farms in Iowa last spring.

The disease was more destructive to Iowa's chicken population, but the virus also hit turkey farms. It kills birds and forces farmers to destroy entire flocks.

In Iowa, bird flu struck 30 turkey farms in seven counties. It resulted in the deaths of more than 1 million turkeys, or 9.4 percent of Iowa's annual turkey production, according to the Iowa Turkey Federation.

'This has been a very challenging and difficult year,' Branstad said. 'It's really encouraging to hear that most of the (turkey) producers are going to be back in production, and many already are.'

Iowa Turkey Federation President Ross Thoreson said the hope is that most producers affected by the virus will have turkeys back on their farms by mid-December and production at normal levels by the first quarter of next year.

Thoreson said turkey farmers are thankful this Thanksgiving that there was not a second strike of the bird flu in the fall, which experts had said was possible.

At Monday's ceremony, grandchildren of Branstad and Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey followed the pardoned birds around the snowy grounds while Branstad and others held court with reporters.

'It's a symbol of Thanksgiving, and the fact that we're thankful that we've gotten through the avian bird flu and the fact that these turkeys survived the disease, and they're also going to survive the chopping block this Thanksgiving,' Branstad said.