Dive Brief:
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Lower grain prices – down 4% this year – coupled with higher turkey production numbers hold turkey prices down and trim Thanksgiving meal costs as well, according to an article in Bloomberg.
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The cost of pumpkin pie and milk is also falling, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation, bringing the total amount spent on the feast down 0.5%.
- But recent episodes of avian flu escalate turkey producers' costs as biosecurity measures are stepped up, according to an AgWeb article.
Dive Insight:
Strong gains in turkey flock sizes and hog production are holding consumers' protein prices down. Increased production volumes – turkey poundage is up some 11% over last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture – benefit farmers, too.
This is not necessarily in sync with consumers' savings. Producers' costs rise along with volume production — more turkeys mean more grain. Retailers often pass on their lower turkey costs in efforts to attract more consumer spending on side dishes.
While government figures show frozen turkey prices are off roughly 11% at the retail level this year, ham prices are down a shade less than 5%.
At less than $1.50 per pound, turkeys have a strong price advantage over hams, which still sell at an average of $4.05 per pound – down from $4.23 in 2015. That difference is somewhat offset by the higher protein yield of ham, which generally is less fatty than turkey.