Thanksgiving turkeys should be plentiful, though the national store price is about 23 cents a pound higher than last year

Shoppers planning a Thanksgiving turkey should have little trouble finding one this year, and more grocery stores than last year are running holiday ads for them, according to an economist with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

The birds will cost somewhat more, though. David Anderson, an extension economist and agricultural economics professor at Texas A&M, said the national average grocery price for a whole, conventionally raised frozen turkey in early November was $1.26 a pound, up from $1.03 at the same point in 2025.

He noted that individual stores may charge more or less and often use turkeys as specials to bring in customers.

Why supply looks good

Turkey production has bounced back after falling more than 8% last year, Anderson said in the extension service's weekly crop and weather report, released Tuesday. About 3% more birds are going to market, and because they are heavier on average, total pounds produced are up close to 6%.

A handful of bird flu outbreaks in recent weeks have not been large enough to dent holiday supplies, he said.

On the wholesale spot market, where retailers buy from suppliers, whole turkeys averaged $1.80 a pound in late October, compared with $1.69 a year earlier. Anderson said checkout prices tend to follow store promotions and contracts signed months ago more closely than that spot price.

A late-October U.S. Department of Agriculture retail survey found about 2,500 stores across the country advertising frozen whole turkeys, more than at the same time last year, and Anderson expects more specials as the holiday nears. He added that demand for a second turkey at Christmas has dropped off over time, while Thanksgiving demand has held steady.

Conditions in North Texas

The same report's summary for AgriLife's North district described a dry fall. Parts of the district went almost a month without rain before a late-week system brought up to an inch in some places and drizzle in others, and drought ranging from moderate to severe hung on. Some counties still had burn bans.

Reporters there said winter wheat planting was moving along, with forage wheat going in first while grain wheat was held back by dry soil or a jump in Hessian fly numbers. Corn, sorghum, soybean, cotton and hay harvests were finished, ranchers had begun feeding hay, and pond levels were low going into winter. Pastures were adding very little new grass.

Livestock were rated fair to good.

Sources

agrilifetoday.tamu.edu