With Thanksgiving just two weeks away, many Americans are already beginning to flood grocery stores in search of holiday meal ingredients.
Everything from cranberry sauce and gravy to potatoes and stuffing will soon be flying off the shelves– forcing grocers across the country to try and keep up with demand.
But, one of the most sought-after Thanksgiving staples– turkey– will be few and far between. It might feel like every year, locating a fresh and affordable bird is already a challenge around the holidays.
Still, 2022 has presented our turkey count with some unique challenges that will make supply scarce and prices high.
First of all, turkey supplies have already been low in recent years. In 2019, turkey prices plummeted– which prompted producers to raise lower numbers of the birds.
Then, once the COVID-19 pandemic ran rampant, turkey production was even further damaged.
United States inflation, which has been an average of 7.7% over the last twelve months, is also a contributing factor.
Now that farmers and processors have been forced to dole out more cash upfront for feed, labor, and fuel, consumers can expect to see these price gouges reflected on their supermarket receipts.
In fact, some experts in the poultry industry– such as Dr. Thomas Elam, president of FarmEcon LLC– predict that families could be paying over two times as much for a turkey this year than they did in 2021.
evgenyb – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
What is really driving this unfortunate reality home, though, is the avian flu. Avian flu is a highly contagious strain that has already killed about 7.3 million U.S. turkeys this year alone.
Avian flu is not a novel problem, but cases of infected birds typically peak during spring migration and curtail during the summer months. The particular strain that is threatening our poultry population this year, though– a highly pathogenic avian influenza– defied avian flu patterns and remained through the summer months. This ultimately impacted many holiday flocks that were in the process of being raised.
So far, this strain of the avian flu has appeared in forty-six states and affected over fifty million birds, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Greg Gunthorp, the owner of Gunthorp Farms– which raises turkeys, pigs, and ducks in Indiana– detailed to The New York Times how all of these factors resulted in a turkey shortage that is unprecedented.
“I’ve never seen anything as crazy as the turkey market right now,” Greg said.
“I tell people if they are not going to buy one of our turkeys, if they see one in the store, they better pick it up and put it in the freezer.”
And, of course, it is not just consumers hoping to score a bird for Thanksgiving who are feeling the market strain. Everyone from deli owners to restauranteurs is also scrambling to get their orders filled and keep turkey on as a menu offering.
Even fresh skinless turkey breasts on their own are witnessing skyrocketing prices– with the retail cost climbing a whopping one hundred and twelve percent compared to last year.
So, if you are hoping to snag a turkey and make it the star of your meal this year, now is the time to scout out your local supermarkets and store a bird in your freezer.
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