Expect To Pay A Lot More For Your Thanksgiving Turkey This Year

The ongoing spread of bird flu is expected to once again affect the price and availability of turkeys leading up to Thanksgiving this year.

The price per pound of an 8 to 16 pound turkey is currently $1.99, which is a 73% increase from $1.15 last year, according to USDA data obtained by CNBC.

Bird flu typically spreads in the colder months, however, an outbreak was reported among commercial turkey producers in July, when many farmers begin raising flocks in preparation for the holiday season.

“It’s certainly occurring at a terrible time,” said Walter Kunisch, a senior commodities strategist at Hilltop Securities, via CNBC.

A total of 47.6 million birds in 42 have been affected by the avian flu this year, which marks the first outbreak since 2015, when nearly 50 million were affected.

Growers must kill entire flocks to combat the avian flu outbreak, which typically account for about 15,000 birds and a reported 5.4 million were been killed between January and July.

“These viruses are occurring with a higher level of frequency,” Kunisch said via CNBC. “It seems like this year the HPAI is more acute. It’s certainly more widespread in terms of the geography.”

Hormel's Jennie-O brand, which is among the largest turkey suppliers in the U.S., had slaughtered thousands of infected birds and is expected to produce significantly less during the holiday season.

“Lower industry-wide turkey supplies are expected to keep prices higher near term,” CFO Jacinth Smiley said on a recent earnings call via CNBC.

The effects of the avian flu include a significant increased cost to raise the turkeys, with Turkey feed prices rising by more than 10% from August 2021 to August 2022, according to USDA data obtained by CNBC.