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SALT LAKE CITY -- As you enjoy your turkey dinner, it might surprise you to know it's about as inexpensive as a typical meal at a fast-food joint.
A grocery store survey suggests turkey is a pretty good deal, but not necessarily for the farmers who produce them.
A Farm Bureau survey finds that the typical cost of a Thanksgiving dinner is down from last year.
"I learned that the price of turkey's down about 99 cents a pound from what it was last year," said Farm Bureau volunteer shopper Linda Noyes. "The price of dairy products is up."
Utah turkey growers are still recovering from a serious low-point two years ago when they were caught in a squeeze between low demand and high feed costs. The picture is improving, but it's not as good as it could have been, according to Sanpete County turkey grower Edwin Sunderland.
"We actually, in our co-op, sold our birds early in the year, when the prices weren't as good," said Sunderland. "The price has gone up the latter end of the year. And so the growers haven't been able to capitalize on that money because the contracts were let earlier in the year."
Sunderland believes many stores sell turkeys at a loss to attract shoppers. In spite of the challenges, he's planning to expand from 50,000 birds a year to 300,000.
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E-mail: hollenhorst@ksl.com
