Alex and Emily Burkel mingle with the turkey finalists Caramel, left, and Popcorn. (Jerry Hagstrom/The Hagstrom Report)

The two Minnesota-grown turkeys that the National Turkey Federation will present to President Barack Obama on Wednesday have differing views on feed, the White House announced today.

The two turkeys — one to be designated the official presidentially pardoned turkey, the other an alternate — are both males, were born on the same day (July 13) and weigh about the same. But the one named “Caramel” prefers soybean meal, while “Popcorn” prefers corn. They also differ in their style of walk, gobble and favorite song. See link below

The turkeys were grown by the John Burkel family on their northern Minnesota farm in the district of Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn. Burkel, his family and his parents and in-laws all came to Washington for the ceremony and presented the turkeys to reporters at the Willard Hotel today.

Burkel raises birds for Northern Pride near Badger, Minn., and is the chairman of the National Turkey Federation. Northern Pride, a grower-owned turkey processing facility in Thief River Falls, Minn., was formed as a cooperative in 1989 by independent turkey growers throughout Northern Minnesota and North Dakota.

The turkeys will be on view at Mount Vernon through January 6, but will then be taken to Morven Park, an historic farm museum near Leesburg, Va., that is developing a section called Turkey Hill Farm.

Three generations of the Burkel family of Badger, Minn., who raised the turkeys that are the finalists in the National Thanksgiving Turkey competition. (Jerry Hagstrom/The Hagstrom Report)

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