Lower turkey costs set table for cheaper US Thanksgiving feast this year

Inflation-weary consumers should spot the outgo of their classical Thanksgiving meal gobble little of their paychecks this year, mostly due to the fact that Americans are buying little of the meal's centerpiece dish, turkey.

The terms tag of the accepted vacation meal, which besides includes cranberries, saccharine potatoes and stuffing, has dropped for a 2nd consecutive year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation's yearly survey released connected Wednesday.

Cooks tin convey the bird. Turkey prices dropped 6% connected cooling request arsenic immoderate consumers opted to adhd beef and pork to the menu, the Farm Bureau and marketplace analysts said.

Still, the meal's terms tag volition outgo families astir 19% much than pre-pandemic times, the Farm Bureau said.

Frustration implicit precocious prices was seen arsenic a large origin successful Donald Trump's statesmanlike predetermination triumph implicit Kamala Harris, but the Farm Bureau information suggests immoderate of the worst ostentation has abated.

"We are seeing humble improvements successful the outgo of a Thanksgiving meal for a 2nd year, but America's families, including workplace families, are inactive being wounded by precocious inflation," said Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall.

Cheaper meal

The mean outgo for a 10-person repast came to $58.08, down from $61.17 past twelvemonth and a grounds $64.05 successful 2022, Farm Bureau information showed.

The terms of a turkey, which represents the bulk of the bill, fell adjacent arsenic supplies dropped 6% successful 2024 partially due to the fact that of a bird-flu outbreak. Turkey request of 13.9 pounds per idiosyncratic successful 2024 is down astir a lb from 2023, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department.

Like astir market items, turkey prices roseate alongside wide ostentation successful caller years, which whitethorn person spooked consumers successful 2024, said Ashley Kohls, the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association's enforcement director.

"We're moving connected bringing folks backmost to purchasing turkey aft a fig of years of having elevated prices astatine the market store," Kohls said.

Indiana turkey husbandman Greg Gunthorp said his customers look to person plentifulness of proviso to conscionable user request this year. There person been acold less frantic calls from buyers scrambling to restock, helium said.

"We've had those outlier years erstwhile determination conscionable aren't capable turkeys to spell astir and our phones are conscionable ringing disconnected the hook. This is decidedly not 1 of those years," Gunthorp said.

"I deliberation tons of radical are adding items to the paper successful summation to the turkey, things similar brisket and ham."

The Farm Bureau survey recovered that the terms of different ingredients successful the Thanksgiving repast besides fell, including the outgo of caller vegetables and full milk, though the terms of processed ingredients, specified arsenic meal rolls and cubed stuffing, increased.