This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

In sixteen twenty-one, a big celebration took place at Plymouth Colony in what is now the state of Massachusetts. European settlers known as the Pilgrims were celebrating their autumn harvest after a winter of struggle.

Other colonists held earlier ceremonies of thanks. But the Pilgrims' three-day feast is often called the nation's first Thanksgiving. President Abraham Lincoln declared a national holiday in eighteen sixty-three during the Civil War.

Today families and friends gather on the fourth Thursday in November. And, thanks to the United States Census Bureau, here are some facts about where their Thanksgiving meal comes from.

The main dish is traditionally a turkey. About two-thirds of the nation's turkeys are produced in Minnesota and five other states. Producers are expected to raise two hundred forty-eight million birds this year, two percent more than last year.