Ample Turkey Supplies this Thanksgiving

When it comes the Thanksgiving turkey this November, what's happening now will affect the supply and price.  And what are turkey producers seeing right now?

"Strong demand...strong prices; and constraints on production," said USDA Outlook Board Chairman Mark Jekanowski.  He noted there's a lot going on right now.

First, this spring and summer, we've had the avian influenza outbreak that's resulted in having to destroy about 5.5 million turkeys to keep the disease from spreading.  And now USDA is projecting that turkey meat production this year could drop from last year by about 3.5%.  Meanwhile, for wholesale prices:

"Increased our price forecast for 2022 by 5.7 cents per pound," Jekanowski noted.  Taking the average wholesale price up by 20% from last year.  That should be incentive for turkey producers to ramp up production.  And analysts say there will be ample supplies of birds for this Thanksgiving.  But those birds could cost a little more than last year.

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