Thanksgiving meal to cost more

The TFB survey price tag is $19.52 for a 16-pound frozen turkey. Wednesday's Abilene Reporter-News H-E-B ad listed a Butterball turkey for 97 cents per pound with an additional $10 purchase, or a free RiverSide turkey with the purchase of a ham. The ad for United Supermarkets and Market Street listed Traditions or Signature Farms turkeys for 77 cents per pound and HoneySuckle White turkeys for 97 cents per pound. “Reasonable feed prices have helped keep egg and poultry prices lower than last year,” said Craig Coufal, poultry specialist for Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. “The industry has also rebounded from outbreaks of avian flu that led to millions of chicken and other poultry losses, especially in egg production houses. Maro Ibarbaru, Egg Industry Center’s business analyst at Ames, Iowa, said a dozen large white eggs in the southern region cost $1.52 this September compared to $3.02 in September 2015. Avian influenza was the main reason for high prices last year, but prices have dipped even further due to other market conditions, such as lower costs for producers, more eggs in storage, and a decline in exports. Coufal said demand for whole turkeys and eggs for baking typically peak around the holidays; however prices haven’t been this low since 2009...more