MINNESOTA POULTRY TESTING ASSOCIATION (SAINT PAUL, MINN.):

The Minnesota Poultry Testing Association was incorporated in January 1964. The Association and its predecessors (the Random Sample Test Advisory Committee and the Random Sample Test Advisory Board) conducted the Minnesota Random Sample Egg Production Test in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture-Division of Poultry Industries, the Department of Corrections, and the University of Minnesota Institute of Agriculture (1957-1974). These year-long tests, known initially as the Minnesota Chicken Random Sample Test (1957-1958) and as the Minnesota Central Random Sample Chicken Test (1958-1959), were conducted at prison farms at the Minnesota State Prison (Stillwater) and the Minnesota State Reformatory for Men (St. Cloud). They evaluated various breeds of chickens for such factors as egg size, interior egg quality, and income and cost data. Test results were made available to poultry producers by the Department of Agriculture, via yearly reports, as a tool to help them select commercial laying stocks.

Members of the organization included the head of the University of Minnesota Department of Poultry Husbandry; the Minnesota Department of Agriculture's director of poultry industries; and members of the Minnesota Poultry Hatchery Association. The group met periodically to make recommendations for the establishment of policy and practices in conducting the Random Sample Tests.

The tests were terminated after 1974 because of declining interest on the part of poultry breeders, and because of the discontinuance of farm operations at the Stillwater prison. The Association was dissolved October 21, 1976.

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Includes articles of incorporation, bylaws, correspondence and memoranda, minutes, financial information, and other records. There are no test records, reports, or other technical data.

Most of the material relates to the administration of the Minnesota Random Sample Egg Production Test, seventeen of which were conducted between 1957 and 1974. There is also information about the incorporation of the Association (1964), the construction of a new test building and a new brooder house at the Stillwater State Prison farm, Association finances, and the dissolution of the Association and the distribution of its assets.

Correspondents include Association officials, University of Minnesota faculty, officials of the Minnesota departments of agriculture and corrections, attorneys, and the Minnesota Poultry & Hatchery Association.

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Minnesota Poultry Testing Association Records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 15,301

Processing Information:

Processed by: David B. Peterson, July 1998

Catalog ID number: 990017347290104294

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Minnesota Random Sample Egg Production Test final reports are in the Minnesota Historical Society book collection.

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Chickens.

Egg trade -- Minnesota.

Eggs -- Production.

Poultry -- Minnesota -- Testing.

Poultry industry -- Minnesota.

Persons:

Carlson, Roy D., 1914-.

Johnson, Elton L.

Organizations:

Minnesota Poultry & Hatchery Association.

Minnesota Random Sample Egg Production Test.

Minnesota State Prison (Stillwater, Minn.).

Minnesota State Reformatory for Men.

Minnesota. Department of Agriculture.

Minnesota. Department of Corrections.

Minnesota. Division of Poultry Industries.

University of Minnesota. Institute of Agriculture.

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