Turkey trouble rises as stores limit number of birds you can bring home for Thanksgiving
SACRAMENTO — Don't be last in the mad dash for dinner or you may find slim pickings for Thanksgiving.
CBS13 talked with some shoppers who said they had some searching to do for their holiday dinner items.
"There were a couple of items I had to ask for, the gravy was short on the shelves," said one shopper.
"The shelves were kind of empty in the bread section and the butter," said another shopper.
If you're bummed about a lack of butter, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said butter production was on a steep decline this year stemming from decreased milk production. And that's not the only Thanksgiving staple taking a hit. Avian flu took a bite out of eggs and even limited turkeys.
Nate Rose with the California Grocers Association said some stores are limiting turkeys to one per household.
"There will be enough turkeys to go around, and I think we're going to get there just by the skin of our teeth. There's been so much planning around it," said Rose.
But all the planning might not prepare you for the higher prices. The USDA said turkeys are 70 cents more per pound this year. But while the turkeys will be the ones gobbling up your money, economics experts are hopeful prices will level out next Thanksgiving.
"The turkeys will be, unless something new happens, should be cheaper again next year. They're planting a lot of corn and soybeans this year so we're hoping prices come back down again," said Dan Sumner, a professor of agricultural economics at UC Davis. "The war in Ukraine really did affect grain markets all over the world and grain goes into the turkey."
The California Grocers Association said Thanksgiving is the Super Bowl of the grocery industry and they've been preparing all year.
They also took many lessons away from the pandemic, so local stores are confident they'll be able to meet the demand for everyone's holiday dinner.