Arkansans' blessing of day: Cheaper bird

Washington Nationals infielder Ryan Zimmerman helps out Monday at a charity Thanksgiving meal in Washington. The cost of a traditional holiday meal is a record high this year, the American Farm Bureau Federation said.
Washington Nationals infielder Ryan Zimmerman helps out Monday at a charity Thanksgiving meal in Washington. The cost of a traditional holiday meal is a record high this year, the American Farm Bureau Federation said.

Arkansans have dodged higher grocery bills this Thanksgiving, with low turkey prices despite the outbreak of bird flu earlier this year that destroyed 48 million birds, including 7.7 million turkeys.

Nationally, the cost to prepare a traditional Thanksgiving meal has reached a record high, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation's annual survey of Thanksgiving dinner prices. The overall shopping bill for a group of 10 increased to $50.11. That's a 70-cent jump from last year's average of $49.41.

In Arkansas, the price for a classic Thanksgiving meal for 10 will cost $45.25 -- 98 cents less than last year, according to an Arkansas Farm Bureau survey.

Travis Justice, chief economist for the Arkansas Farm Bureau, said the main difference between the national survey and the statewide one was turkey prices.

"The basic price of the bird could be a little lower because we are a little closer to the turkey supply than the nation as a whole," he said. "Also, if you take the competitive level of the grocery market here, we may be featuring turkey at a little bit lower prices."

Grocery stores compete to draw Thanksgiving shoppers to their stores, driving down the price of turkey around Thanksgiving, Justice said.

The Arkansas Farm Bureau reported an average of $17.40 for a 16-pound male turkey, down 68 cents from $18.08 last year.

"Adequate inventories of frozen birds before the avian influenza outbreak and pre-holiday discounts offered by many food retailers are the primary reasons for the drop in price this year," Justice said.

In the national survey, the average price of a 16-pound turkey weighed in at $23.04, or an increase of about $1.39 compared with last year.

"Retail prices seem to have stabilized quite a bit for turkey, which is the centerpiece of the meal in our market-basket," said John Anderson, American Farm Bureau Federation deputy chief economist. "There were some production disruptions earlier this year due to the highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak in the Midwest. Turkey production is down this year, but not dramatically."

Other foods that increased this year in the national survey were pumpkin pie mix, cubed bread stuffing and pie shells. A 30-ounce can of pumpkin pie mix was $3.20.

"Despite concerns earlier this fall about pumpkin production due to wet weather, the supply of canned product will be adequate for this holiday season," Anderson said.

Randy Veach, president of the Arkansas Farm Bureau, said Arkansas farmers faced rough weather conditions to get crops and turkeys to the grocery store this year.

"Despite the fact that Arkansas farmers and ranchers had to overcome the effects of flooding in the spring, followed by drought conditions that lingered well into the harvest this fall, they are still able to hold down their cost of production," he said.

Veach said low fuel and transportation costs helped keep prices low.

"As we do each Thanksgiving, American families will be able to enjoy this meal and share it with those who are not as fortunate," he said. "That is truly reason to give thanks."

Business on 11/25/2015

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