The price of a turkey in Indiana has increased 21% since last year due to inflation and other factors.
"People have been confronted with, for the past year has been inflation. Food price inflation, food prices have been increasing rather dramatically over the past year, really at rates that we haven't seen since the 1970s," said Jayson Lusk, a food and agricultural economist and the Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University.
As Thanksgiving approaches, many people are experiencing sticker shock at the high food prices.
A big factor in the short term increases in turkey prices has been avian flu, which has resulted in 8 million turkeys being euthanized in the state of Indiana so far this year.
These factors have led to consumers paying more for their turkey than in years past. The average price of a whole frozen bird is $2.45 per pound - up 70 cents from last year. Even with those increases, the cost is still not as steep as what many feared heading into the fall.
"Despite a lot of challenges from avian influenza and other things, that looks like for the consumer, its going to be a relatively affordable Thanksgiving, in spite of what things looked like even just a couple of months ago," Lusk explained.
What people may not realize is how big of a role local farmers play in putting that Thanksgiving meal on the table.
"Indiana is a major turkey producer - about the fourth largest turkey producing state. All those turkeys also have to eat something, so all the corn, soybeans that go into feeding those animals come from this region and area," added Lusk.
Even with all the challenges, Indiana farmers have stayed resilient. Lusk says he expects turkey production will recover and prices will fall as the lingering impacts of the pandemic subside.
