With Thanksgiving a little more than a week away, the holiday’s staple bird will be pricier — and maybe harder to get — than in years past.
Tewes Farm in Erlanger, the only fresh turkey farm in Northern Kentucky, has raised their prices per pound from $3.50 in 2021 to $4.50 this Thanksgiving season to keep up with economic trends.
“With the way everything is up, it’s affecting us and our turkey prices,” said Stephanie Tewes.
Economic factors such as inflation and supply-chain crunches have caused farmers to increase turkey prices across the United States, affecting the demand and accessibility. Feed and straw prices have also increased over the past year.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, turkey feed prices increased by 10 percent from September 2021 to September 2022. A Texas A&M study found the average price of turkey per pound climbed from $1.79 this October, up from $1.39 last November.
“This year we decided to solidify the pricing,” Tewes said. “Our prices went up $1 a pound because we had to sit down and look at how much feed the turkeys get and the straw that goes into it, all that stuff. All of that is up in price which has made us, unfortunately, have to raise our prices as well.”
Tewes Farm raises approximately 3,000 turkeys for Thanksgiving each year. Once all the turkeys are sold, they stop taking orders. Tewes suspects demand for the turkeys to be slightly above what they experience in a normal year, so they decided to open their order forms earlier and notify their customers of the raised prices. As of Nov. 14, Tewes said their turkey orders have been on par with what they generally see.
“We have 3,000 and once they’re gone, we can’t create more,” Tewes said. “We buy them as babies in July so that we can control everything we feed them. We can’t really get any more.”
For customers fearing a shortage, the Texas A&M study also says turkey supplies build throughout the year to make sure they are available to major grocery retailers in November.
Nationally, the avian flu has affected the supply of turkeys in 46 states, Kentucky being one of them. The USDA estimates 50.34 million birds have been affected by the virus in 2022. In Kentucky specifically, there have been two affected commercial flocks, two affected backyard flocks, and a total of 285,040 birds affected in this outbreak as of Oct. 11. Tewes told Spectrum News 1 their farm had been unaffected by the avian flu.
Inflation is another factor affecting the rising price of turkeys. Although the national inflation rate is down from 9.1% in June, the 7.7% rate in October continues to affect food prices. The food inflation rate for October was 10.9% percent, up from 6.1% in Dec. 2021. With high food inflation, families may have to cut back on some ingredients for Thanksgiving at the grocery store, or find another meat to be the featured centerpiece of their meal.
A NielsenIQ analysis found that 68% of consumers surveyed will be adjusting their Thanksgiving spending as prices continue to rise and that 38% stated they would consider buying a smaller turkey.
“We’re telling our customers they have to order this year and that you can’t just drop in and hope to get one because it might not be the case,” Tewes said.
