The centerpiece of the Thanksgiving meal, a roasted turkey, will cost about 6 percent more than a year ago, the result of the avian influenza epidemic that swept turkey and poultry farms in the Midwest last spring. A spot check of grocery prices nationwide by 138 volunteer shoppers put the average price of a 16-pound turkey at $1.44 a pound, a 9-cent increase, says the American Farm Bureau Federation.
The largest U.S. farm group has tracked the cost of a Thanksgiving Day meal for 10 people since 1986. This is the first time the cost of groceries for the home-cooked meal has topped $50. The turkey, at $23.04, is nearly half of the average bill of $50.11, up less than 2 percent overall from 2014, said AFBF. Milk had the largest decline, down 14 percent, for a cost per gallon of $3.25.
“Our survey shows a modest increase in turkey prices,” said John Anderson, an AFBF economist, citing a downturn in supplies. The National Turkey Federation told RFDTV that while some turkey producers suffered significant losses, U.S. production is down by 3 percent this year. Most of the frozen turkey on sale for the holiday was produced early this year, before the bird flu oubreaks.