Alberta turkey prices expected to rise as avian flu continues
Posted Dec 14, 2022 2:21 pm.
Last Updated Dec 14, 2022 3:18 pm.
Turkeys might be hard to find this holiday season in Alberta as poultry farms across Canada continue to be affected by the avian flu.
Professor Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, says the impact is huge, although well-managed.
“It is a very contagious strain right now affecting farms. We had to re-call over four million birds so far, so those are birds that have never reached the market,” Charlebois said.
“Some people think it’s supply and demand — demand goes up, prices will go up. Actually, it doesn’t work that way all the time with turkey.”
He says prices will continue to rise as the shortage continues in the coming weeks.
“Typically this time of year, you would see many grocers offering turkey at $2.25 to $2.50 a pound to just get people in the store to buy other things, but I’m not sure it’s going to happen this year — if they actually have any birds for sale,” Charlebois explained.
“Inventories are much tighter than normal, and so, we are expecting prices to continue to rise.”
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The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) says as of Dec. 11, there were 20 farms infected with the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), while another 20 were removed from the list.
The agency says over 1.4 million birds are currently infected with HPAI.
Charlebois says there are alternatives to turkey as the prices might put a dent in Canadians’ bank accounts.
“Given what’s happening out west, we are expecting also a lot of consumers to decide to perhaps go for pork or ham, and ham is actually quite reasonably priced no matter where you are,” Chalebois said.
“So pork is actually a good option for families on a tight budget.”
While Alberta has many infected farms, B.C. is getting hit the hardest as the CFIA reports there were 61 infected farms as of Dec. 11. Twenty-two had been released from quarantine.
-With files from Chris Bowen
