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Big Turkey Goes Wild
Big Turkey Goes Wild
By Dan Mitchell
Posted Monday, November 23, 2009 - 2:05pm
Slate has republished an interesting "Explainer" from last year detailing how producers of turkey deal with an unusual market: where nearly one-fifth of their product is sold to be consumed on just one day. Big Turkey, which includes Butterball, Cargill, Hormel (HRL), and Sara Lee (SLE), plans for the season by freezing birds (relatively easy) or, to meet the demand for fresh birds (not so easy), by planning more than a year in advance for Thanksgiving and buying eggs for breeder birds from the two top suppliers, Hybrid and Nicholas.
Obviously, a fair amount of guesswork is involved. This year, that guesswork might have been slightly off, as the industry is beset with a surplus. Northwest Arkansas Newspapers reports that turkey prices are down by 18 percent to 20 percent. This is true despite production cutbacks of about 9 percent.
Meanwhile, Reuters reports that the overall cost of a Thanksgiving dinner is down about 4 percent this year. Much of that is thanks to the ongoing plunge in dairy prices, with milk down from last year by 92 cents a gallon, to $2.86. Reuters puts the average price of a 16-pound turkey at $18.65, or 48 cents less than last year.
Comments
Thanksgiving Day
Turkey Curry is the most common menu during Thanksgiving Day, as it’s part of the tradition on celebrating the feast. However, the common thought about this event is the happiness and blessing that God has given us. Thanksgiving brings with it football, and also the day after – when everybody goes shopping, and there is a lot of money going to be spent this year. It's also easier to know just how much food to buy and therefore prepare if you have all your guests RSVP ahead of time. (However, it never works out that way.) If you clip some Thanksgiving coupons, you could put on a royal spread without credit cards.