My new Minnesota Cooks Calendar has officially turned to 2025. As we take stock of last year and look ahead to new opportunities, I thought I’d share what we learned at Ferndale Market in 2024:

The formula for turkey farming is ever changing: Someone without a background in farming might assume it’s a straightforward, rinse-and-repeat occupation. For better or worse, it turns out there’s nothing static in turkey farming. Beyond the usual weather-related variables, 2024 surprised us with a new turkey virus (avian Metapneumovirus, for those of you keeping track at home) that appeared everywhere across the Midwest last spring, seemingly overnight. We still had the familiar poultry worry in the headlines: bird flu, now infecting dairy cows, which changed the storyline significantly this year. And, our hatchery partner changed the way our baby turkeys begin their lives outside of the shell, so we adapted our brooding here on the farm. The only constant was change!

E-Commerce is a monster: Like many businesses, we dipped our pinkie toe into the waters of online ordering during the immediacy of the pandemic. We knew enough to know we didn’t have it all figured out, but I can now declare that 2024 was the year we started doing honest-to-goodness e-commerce, as the pros call it.  We revamped our shop website (again), ordered custom boxes, and got used to seeing our UPS driver daily. We’ve learned a lot, but the perishability and weight of frozen turkey still makes efficient shipping a tough riddle to solve. If there’s a moral to the story, you’re probably still best to seek out our products at a brick-and-mortar store if you can. If, however, someone you know in Connecticut craves Ferndale turkey, we are happy to make it happen!

Ferndale is an attraction: For the past 10 years, we’ve chuckled about our MN DOT highway road signs that classify Ferndale Market as an “attraction.” Despite the humorous classification, this year reminded us again how fortunate we are to be where we are. Our new mural on our market drew lots of attention, our Turkey Fest event drew guests from far and wide, and our collaborations showcase that Cannon Falls is a destination. Many small towns would envy all we’ve got going on here and there’s no place we’d rather be. We invite you to see all of our “attractions” in 2025!

Those are a few of the things tumbling in my mind as we turn the page to 2025. I suspect we’ll learn plenty more in the year ahead; it’s never dull around here. Thanks as always for your continued support!