Thanksgiving is just days away, and the turkey industry says it is ready to deliver the holiday’s centerpiece meal.
“Our folks, from the growers to our processors, are delivering turkeys to retailers as we speak. There will be plenty of turkeys available. We will have a plentiful supply this year, with ample opportunity for discounts at your local supermarket. We’re just really excited to deliver a very nutritious and wholesome product to the American consumer,” said Leslee Oden of the National Turkey Federation.
Raising turkeys is a year-round process. The Minnesota Turkey Growers Association says right now, it is preparing deliveries of fresh birds to families.
“Turkeys are raised year-round, right? So the turkey inventory that we have and we build up over the summer and into the fall are typically what folks consume when they buy a whole turkey in the grocery store. Another is a certain percentage of grocery shoppers that do like to take up a fresh bird, whether it’s the convenience of not having to thaw turkey, or they don’t, let’s say, have the freezer space for turkey. They do purchase a fresh bird. And so the turkeys that are currently, you know, either in barns being raised right now, or are just finishing up getting market ready, are going to be the fresh birds that folks do purchase this Thanksgiving,” said Ashley Kohls.
That Thanksgiving centerpiece will cost less this year, too. The Farm Bureau’s annual Cost of Thanksgiving Survey shows turkeys costs about six percent less from last Thanksgiving.
