CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The holidays are right around the corner, and some shoppers might see some relief as they shop for their holiday dinners. According to the American Farm Bureau, turkey production has risen and prices have dropped by 22% just in time for Thanksgiving.

The change comes after the avian influenza affected poultry and egg farmers in the U.S., killing over five million turkeys in 2022 and causing an increase in prices.

What You Need To Know

  • The avian influenza killed over five million turkeys in 2022, causing skyrocketing prices 

  • This year, turkey prices have dropped by 22% in time for the holidays  

  • Joyce Farms sees triple the demand around the fall for heritage turkeys 

Joyce Farms in North Carolina has been providing quality meats for over 60 years and worked to navigate the damaging effects of the avian flu.

“My grandparents started it back in 1962 as a small mom-and-pop distributor. We distributed it to local grocery stores, everything was done by hand,” said Ryan Joyce, president of Joyce Farms.

To this day, everything is still done by hand to ensure only the best product makes it to the table. Joyce Farms currently grows and produces a variety of luxury meats all locally handled.

“The birds are processed by hand and individually checked in packs so we can preserve the awesome flavor and the quality of the heritage,” said Stuart Joyce, vice president of Joyce Farms.

For Joyce Farms, it’s also the breed that sets them apart, raising over 10,000 heritage black turkeys a year.

“It's a heritage breed, so it's a hardier breed and the flavor is really the prime reason we go through raising these animals. It cooks up amazingly well. It is more a little bit more gamey. It's not gamey, but the flavors are really there,” Ryan Joyce said.

The slow-growing breed has allowed their flocks to avoid the avian flu, but the farm was still affected by the high prices in the aftermath of the crisis.

“The entire turkey industry was kind of turned upside down, because the supply was just all of a sudden gone. Flocks around the country were being eradicated, and corn really drove the price of it up. Corn was through the roof. So our feed costs were extremely high last year and on the heritage breed of animals, they consume a lot more feed per pound of meat that you get,” Joyce said.

The outbreak lasted more than a year and a half, but as the holidays get closer, the turkey supplies have since recovered with sales at Joyce farms tripling this season.

“It's really going back to the way turkeys used to taste before they been commercialized. I hope they enjoy the quality and they see that it's different. We're a small company, but we fill a niche market, and we're offering consumers an alternative,” Stuart Joyce said.

The USDA also estimates that over 219 million turkeys were raised this year, serving as a good indicator for lower consumer prices this fall and winter.

To learn more about Joyce Farms and its production, you can visit its website here. The last date to place an order for a turkey in time for Thanksgiving is November 14.