Turkey Shortage?

[Ben]

I've read a couple of local articles suggesting there will be a turkey shortage for the holidays in these parts. Have any of you seen that in your neck of the woods?

Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys are a big deal for me, mostly from a family nostalgia perspective. So it will be a priority for me to get a couple of turkeys this year, with cost secondary. I usually don't buy fancy or even fresh turkeys. I'll get whatever Costco has and call it good. But they may not have any this year.

A local farm sells pasture raised turkeys and seems to have plenty available so far for pre-order on their website. You have to create an account to see price, so I'm guessing they'll be really expensive. 

I figure my game plan will be to check Costco and the better grocery stores in the area starting the first week of November. If I see any decent frozen turkeys I'll grab two and be done with it. If that fails I guess I'll buy a couple of likely very expensive turkeys from that farm.

I can't imagine not having turkey on Tday and Christmas. I've never not had any in my entire life.

[DittoHead]

I've read a couple of local articles suggesting there will be a turkey shortage

Even if there wasn't going to be one before, there will probably be one now. These things tend to be kind of self-fulfilling.

[Ben]

I don't know how accurate the reporting from websites like this one are. Nevertheless, here they suggest that as far as turkeys go, the potential shortages would be for smaller, fresh birds.

I usually get smaller turkeys, but if all I see is frozen 20 pounders, that's okay. If I have to cook a 20 pounder, I'll freeze half of it for turkey dinners later in the year. 

https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/food-shortages-2021/

[K Frame]

My family used to have turkey for both T-giving and Christmas.

A few years before Mom died I decided to break out of the mold for T-giving and did a roasted pork loin. It was nice, but it did seem to be a bit strange.

[sumpnz]

Ben - if you need a turkey let me know.  I have some extras not yet spoken for.  I usually ask $7/lb (these are heritage turkeys raised free range).  Might be able to cut you a small break but I don’t make much over costs at that price.  I also have some broad-breasted turkeys in the freezer (20+ lbs).  Those would be closer to $3/lb.

[sumpnz]

For that matter, anyone on here that wants to reserve a turkey for future years please let me know.  I don’t have much not yet spoken for this year, but next year it’ll just be a matter of not selling too many poults that hatch out to accommodate folks.

[sumpnz]

I raise meat chickens too.  So if you want to make the trip worthwhile I can sell you a bunch of chickens too.  Come out to help on slaughter day and you can have up to 12 chickens at my cost (~$2.50/lb).  After 12 it would be $3.50/lb.  If you don’t help out I usually ask $5.50/lb.

[dogmush]

Plenty of stock:

https://www.cajungrocer.com/turducken

[Bogie]

The Aldi two blocks from my house had a whole freezer full. I hate turkey.
 
I blew about $100 on groceries for the next few weeks or so.

[Ben]

Plenty of stock:

https://www.cajungrocer.com/turducken

If I want a turducken I'm not gonna buy one. I'm gonna wait until I see a duck flying over the house followed by a turkey. Then I'm gonna shoot the duck with 00 buck, which will send the duck flying into the mouth and down the gullet of the turkey. The turkey that swallowed the duck will drop at my feet and I will pick it up and toss it in the oven, just like in the cartoons.

[JTHunter]

Thankfully, I am not a big fan of turkey and my elderly mother won't touch it.  She does like pork loin, esp. the way I cook it and she loves dressing.  I do the cooking now and she does the eating. 
The rest of the family live at least 200 miles away so the chances of us getting together is slim.

[MillCreek]

Depending on the virus status in the area, we will either have 25-30 people for Thanksgiving or five.  We will see.

[Jim147]

With all the cows running around here I'm thinking standing rib roast sounds good.

[RoadKingLarry]

If I can acquire one I may smoke a turkey this year. Haven't done that in several years now.
So far I haven't heard of any unusual shortages on meat and other groceries locally.

[Kingcreek]

For several years I bought heritage free range turkey from a young menonite guy near me. They were awesome but he must have stopped because I didn’t get my usual spring preorder commitment email from him last year or this.
I have done ok with organic turkey from Aldi without the injected brine and usual contaminants.
We have invited my wife’s parents and siblings but it might be just the 2 of us or as many as 16. Doesn’t matter to me. I love left over turkey.
AFTER thanksgiving I often pick up a whole breast or young turkey for cheap. I like to keep a couple  in the freezer and smoke them slow in the pit barrel.

[tokugawa]

My patience is thin. I am going to have long pig.

[French G.]

I would assume that most of the turkey day birds are already ded. I do notice here in turkey central that it seems that new birds are not getting put in barns at full capacity. Probably related to the fact that every processing plant here advertises non stop for workers. My heritage turkeys won't be big enough to eat, also I ended up with one tom and six hens so probably make them all producers of new turkeys. Did end up with two broad breasts that were a bonus payment on a sheep shearing. One hen is definitely dinner. The other is probably here to stay as a pet. One blue eye, very docile, can't turn around without tripping over it because it thinks it is a dog.

[zxcvbob]

I have one in the freezer that I bought last year at Thanksgiving time for Christmas and then didn't use.  I will cook it for Turkey Day, and try to find one to replace it; shouldn't be too hard because Minnesota raises a *lot* of turkeys.

I make a killer turkey gumbo, and Wife would actually rather have that than a roast bird.  I might partially thaw it, cut it up like a fryer, and roast the breast and make gumbo with the dark meat instead of roasting the whole thing and making gumbo with the carcass and some of the leftover dark meat.

[K Frame]

The Aldi two blocks from my house had a whole freezer full. I hate turkey.

You hate the Freedom Holiday Bird of Plenty?

*expletive deleted*ing Commie!

[K Frame]

I've had a 20 pounder in my deep freeze for about 4 years now.

I got it after the holidays, meaning to cook it, never did.

So, I'm thinking that I'm going to roast it... but then turn it into stock.

[dogmush]

I had no idea so many here were so serious about turkey.

Mrs Mush doesn't eat turkey, and we'll be camping for T-Day, so I'm not getting one, but in general  I'm ambivalent about turkey meat.

[K Frame]

I had no idea so many here were so serious about turkey.

Mrs Mush doesn't eat turkey, and we'll be camping for T-Day, so I'm not getting one, but in general  I'm ambivalent about turkey meat.

HOLY HELL! COMMIES EVERYWHERE! MCCARTHY WAS RIGHT!

[Ben]

HOLY HELL! COMMIES EVERYWHERE! MCCARTHY WAS RIGHT!

No kidding. This has been a good thread to discover the commie pinkos among us. What's the anti-turkey equivalent of a scarlet letter? We need to mark these hippies in some way.

[K Frame]

"What's the anti-turkey equivalent of a scarlet letter?"

The White Turkey Feather.

It works on multiple levels... 

[dogmush]

Also, since no one mentioned it:

If you don't deep-fry your Turkey, are you really even an American?