Turkeys and Turkey Eggs

In the early 2010s, the United States produced approximately 250 million turkeys each years; the average weight of a turkey was over 25 pounds. The U.S. turkey industry is the largest in the world: Americans have the highest per capita consumption of turkey and turkey products and the United States is also the leading exporter of turkey, followed by the European Union. Minnesota is the leading turkey-producing state, followed by North Carolina, Missouri, Arkansas, and Virginia.

According to the USDA, in 2009, the total value of turkeys produced was $3.57 billion, down 20 percent from $4.48 billion in 2008. Turkey production was 7.15 billion pounds, down 10 percent from the previous year's total of 7.92 billion pounds. The average wholesale price in 2009 was 50.0 cents per pound, down from an average of 56.6 cents per pound in 2008. Turkey production was expected to be down by as much as 10 percent again in 2010 before rebounding somewhat in 2011. Nonetheless, 2011 totals were expected to be below the peak 2008 totals.

Between 1970 and the end of the first decade of the 2000s, turkey consumption increased by more than 100 percent as turkey, once considered primarily as a holiday food, began to be integrated into more menus and products. In 1970, per capita consumption was approximately 8 pounds; by 2009, an average American consumed nearly 18 pounds of turkey and turkey products every year. To meet this growing demand, turkey production grew by 300 percent over the same time period. In 1975, 124.2 million turkeys were produced; by 2009, that number grew to 273 million turkeys.

Turkey production in the United States declined in the late 1990s and the early years of the first decade of the 2000s, after peaking with a record 310 million birds produced in 1996, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Although U.S. turkey production was 274 million birds in 2003, this number fell to 256 million in 2005 before rising again to 262 million turkeys in 2007, and it was still well below the 301 million birds produced in 1997. In 2004, U.S. turkey growers decided to implement a 4 percent decrease in the number of birds raised. U.S. consumption of turkey in 2006 was 16.9 pounds per person.

Turkey production in 2007 grew to 7.87 billion pounds live weight from 7.46 billion pounds in 2006 and 7.21 billion pounds in 2005, due to an increase in the number of birds slaughtered as well as heavier bird weights. Turkeys produced during 2007 were valued at $3.71 billion, an increase of 4 percent from $3.57 billion in 2006. Producers received an average wholesale price of 47.2 cents per pound in 2007, only a slight decline from 47.9 cents in 2006. From 2000 to 2004, turkey exports hovered near an average of 459.2 million pounds each year. This figure leapt to 569.4 million pounds in 2005 and then fell slightly to 546.2 million pounds in 2006.

In the late 1990s and the first decade of the 2000s, the turkey industry grappled with many problems, including flattened consumption, weak selling prices, increasing problems with turkey disease, high feed costs, excess inventories, and low selling prices. Technology also hurt the industry. Genetic engineering has produced turkeys with larger breasts, leading to excess inventories. Also, a growing number of processors are using less meat and supplementing with fillers--like basting solutions--in place of meat. This has led to a glut of turkey. To offset this trend, turkey growers throughout the U.S. decreased production in 2004.

Exports of turkeys more than tripled between 1990 and the end of the first decade of the 2000s. In 1992, the value of exported turkey totaled $151.4 million; in 2008, export value equaled $481.9 million. The majority of exports are dark meat and cut-up parts. Of the 676.3 million pounds exported in 2008, 622.5 pounds (92 percent) were cut-up parts. Just 53.8 million pounds (8 percent) were whole body turkeys. Turkey exports generally account for between 9 and 11 percent of total U.S. turkey production. Mexico is, by far, the United States' top customer, followed by China, Russia, and Canada.

According to the National Turkey Federation, the industry was led by three large producers with the following live weight production totals in 2008: Butterball, LLC, 1.445 billion pounds; Jennie-O Turkey, 1.342 billion pounds; and Cargill Meat Solutions 1.047 million pounds. Several other companies followed: Farbest Foods (302 million pounds), Perdue Farms (275 million pounds), Foster (274 million pounds), House of Raeford (265 million pounds), Kraft Foods (Oscar Meyer; 252 million pounds), Virginia Poultry Growers Cooperative (267 million pounds), Sarah Lee (221 million pounds), and Prestage Foods (220 million pounds).