Fowl news: Record turkey prices projected for Thanksgiving

Higher prices are expected for people preparing for that Turkey Day dinner.

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Reduced flocks of turkeys after an avian-influenza outbreak have sent prices of the traditional Thanksgiving Day bird soaring, The Wall Street Journal reported. Price tags for turkey are likely to remain high through the holidays, the newspaper reported.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, nearly 130,000 birds were impacted by an outbreak at a commercial turkey farm in Meeker County, Minnesota, Bloomberg reported. Highly pathogenic bird flu was discovered in a Wisconsin backyard flock in the first confirmed case since May, according to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture.

The USDA said the outbreak has affected 39 states this year and has led to the death of more than 40 million birds, including roughly 6 million turkeys, The Wall Street Journal reported. This year’s fatalities represent the second-deadliest outbreak on record behind 2015, according to the newspaper.

Breast-meat prices for consumers have climbed above $6.50 a pound this year, The Wall Street Journal reported. That is more than three times 2020 levels, when the meat averaged less than $2 a pound two years ago, according to Urner Barry, a market-research firm.

Turkey hens, which are the majority of birds served on Thanksgiving, currently cost 57% more than the five-year average, Urner Barry officials said. Both prices represent all-time highs, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Hormel Foods Corp., the second-largest turkey processor by volume behind Butterball LLC, said on Thursday that sales volumes for its Jennie-O Turkey Store brand fell 20% for the three months ending July 31, the newspaper reported. The company expects sales volumes to be 30% lower this quarter.

“Lower industrywide turkey supplies are expected to keep prices higher,” Jacinth Smiley, Hormel’s chief financial officer, told The Wall Street Journal.

Turkey supplies were tight before the outbreak, Russ Whitman, senior vice president at Urner Barry, told the newspaper. Despite rising prices, higher animal-feed costs are preventing turkey farmers from expanding their flocks.

A lower number of turkeys could mean that some stores may not get the exact number of 10- or 16-pound turkeys they need, Russ Whitman, senior vice president at Urner Barry, told The Wall Street Journal.

“Retailers are not getting what they want, they are getting what is available,” Whitman told the newspaper.

According to figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, turkey production for the third quarter of 2022 is estimated to be 7% less than the same period in 2021.

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