Louisiana Thanksgiving Shoppers Will Face Turkey Price Shock

(99.9 KTDY) - Get ready to spend more to put a turkey on your table in Louisiana this year, as the USDA says prices will be up once again this Thanksgiving.

While you're hoping to get a gobble, gobble on your table this year, get ready for your wallet to wobble, wobble! It won't be a slight increase in the cost of a turkey this year. Prices are soaring.

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Why Turkey Prices Are Rising Again

Two factors are making turkey prices soar once again this year, and they are economic inflation and the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation's latest analysis.

This year, you will have to fork out more money if you are planning to feed a turkey to your family this Thanksgiving. That, coupled with increased food prices of close to 25% since 2020, has Louisiana families trying to make every penny stretch when it comes to celebrating the Thanksgiving meal.

The Double Impact: Inflation and Bird Flu

Simply put, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza is bird flu, and it continues to be a headache for the poultry industry, including for our beloved Thanksgiving turkeys. Whether you cook it for hours in the oven or deep-fry that turkey, it's one of the main staples of Thanksgiving tables in Louisiana.

Prices are expected to rise close to 40%. Bernt Nelson with the American Farm Bureau Federation says,

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has had a major impact on the turkey industry, affecting about 18.7 million turkeys and accounting for 10% of all birds affected by the virus since 2022. This includes 2.2 million turkeys affected so far in 2025.

Avian Metapneumovirus: A New Threat to Turkeys

As if things weren't tricky enough, poultry producers are also having to worry about another virus. It's AMPV, which stands for Avian metapneumovirus. Basically, all turkeys are susceptible to this respiratory illness. The symptoms include a vast array of issues, including that turkeys' heads get larger. The following symptoms, as listed on the https://www.avian-pneumovirus.com/ website, can occur and sound terrible.

Symptoms of the Poultry Virus

• Young chickens and turkey poults are depressed and huddle under the heat source.
• Respiratory signs – gasping, coughing, tracheal rales, and frothy ocular or nasal discharge, especially in young turkeys.
• Birds in lay have a marked drop in egg production and produce more poor-quality eggs.
• Affected flocks appear to be very quiet.
• The external and internal quality of the eggs may be affected, resulting in misshapen or soft-shelled eggs with watery content. The hatchability rate of the eggs may be affected.
• In chickens, aMPV infection can form part of the so-called “Swollen Head Syndrome”, the birds appearing very quiet.

What Louisiana Shoppers Can Expect This Thanksgiving

All of these things are going to combine to make birds more expensive this year, so one good idea is to start scouring sale papers and online specials now to see how big a discount you might be able to find and grab it before the birds are gone. And those symptoms sound terrible! You've got to feel bad for the infected birds!

Hope for Turkeys for Thanksgiving?

Getting a turkey on the table this year is going to be a little more difficult, that is for sure. Unless, of course, you check with Walmart. The company's CEO told ABC about the ability to buy a Thanksgiving meal for ten at the retail giant and spend less than $4 a person!

Hopefully, you'll find the perfect turkey for your table at a price that won't break the bank.

Now, check out each state's signature side dish.