Turkey farm family works together for a healthy operation
Samantha Cofell is a fourth-generation turkey farmer. She and her husband, Jon Paul, operate Badger Creek Farm, which consists of two sites with six turkey barns. Their children, Lawrence, 11, and Lillian, 9, help with day-to-day operations. Each year they raise 480,000 turkeys, producing about 6.7 million pounds of turkey.
Cofell routinely uses the Extension website. ”The guidance they have related to the National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP) requirements is crucial in allowing us to comply with current best practices, standards and regulations,” Cofell said.
Abby Schuft is an Extension program leader who developed resources based on the regulatory NPIP standards. She has delivered biosecurity education since 2016, working closely with Extension Specialist and Poultry Virologist Dr. Carol Cardona. Schuft said: “Biosecurity is key to preventing or reducing the extent of possible virus and other disease introduction.”
Cofell has also been a voice for agricultural literacy, sharing her family’s farm experience with school children. Minnesota is the nation’s top turkey-producing state.
Highlights
- Antonio Becker, a Morrison County 4-H’er, was one of four students nationwide selected for the National 4-H Youth In Action Award. He has served as a 4-H State Ambassador and is now studying animal science at the University of Minnesota. He has taken initiative to speak about mental health at 4-H leadership conferences.
- U of M Farm Family of the Year: The Rudolph family farm has traced its farming roots to 1892, when it was first homesteaded. Nathan and Brenda continue a multi-generational legacy. Brenda founded Raising a Farmer, a nonprofit dedicated to farm-based education and connecting urban and rural communities.
- The Master Gardeners in Morrison County hosted informational sessions for their Horticulture Day event, covering turfgrass, shoreline restoration, small space vegetable gardening, native plants and flowers, and biodiversity in tree planting.
- Picnic Pals is a summer food program in partnership with Oasis Central Minnesota and Extension that supplies families with nutritious food throughout the summer months.
- RSDP impact: The Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls, with support from RSDP, is engaging a U of M graduate student to research and develop a marketing and feasibility study for an environmental learning center on a restored native habitat.
- SuperShelf: Morrison County Food Shelf
- In collaboration with the Initiative Foundation, the Climate Adaptation Partnership enabled the creation of a new staff position focused on community preparedness and resiliency across the central Minnesota region.
Morrison County office
Extension has 14 regional offices supporting all 87 counties in Minnesota.
Morrison County partners with Extension to deliver practical education and research you can use at home, at work and in your community. More about Extension in our county.
About the Minnesota 87 project
Spend time in any Minnesota county, and you will almost certainly encounter University of Minnesota Extension. Our faculty and staff, volunteers, participants, alumni and partners are woven into the fabric of rural, urban and suburban Minnesota life. This project showcases Extension in action through photos, stories and a sampling of the many ways Extension has touched the lives of people in every county.