Families preparing for Thanksgiving could be impacted by nationwide turkey shortage

TAMPA, Fla. - With Thanksgiving approaching, poultry farmers in Florida are warning that a nationwide turkey shortage could impact families' dinner tables and wallets.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the avian flu outbreak is the major reason behind the decline in the country's turkey population. The virus has killed about six million turkeys, which is roughly 14% of the total U.S. turkey population.

"It has been predominant more in turkeys this time, this particular strain for some reason," said John Roberts, owner of Olivor Heritage Farms in Dover.

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Roberts told FOX 13 farmers have been dealing with the outbreak for 12 to 18 months. He said it can decimate larger commercial poultry farms because, when one bird tests positive, the federal government will euthanize an entire flock.

"You can have 100,000 birds in one chicken house. They start testing positive and [the government will] destroy the whole house," Roberts said. "If it goes to the next house over and the next house over, some of these places have a million birds on one farm, so you can lose a lot of birds really quick."

That could cause the price of turkeys to increase. According to the USDA, families could end up spending about 20% more per pound this Thanksgiving.

"Let's say I have to sell ten units a week to meet my overhead and my costs. If I've only got five to sell, I have to raise the price on those five to cover the ten or else I can't stay in business," Roberts explained. "I don't think people are gouging necessarily. Everybody's going to try to make money if they can, but it's just the reality of you have fixed overhead expenses, and you have to build that cost into however many units you have to sell."

Roberts said families might want to consider buying a turkey earlier than normal and freezing it.