Thanksgiving Dinner Up a Tad, to Just Over $50

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Farm Bureau's 30th annual informal price survey of classic items found on the Thanksgiving Day dinner table indicates the average cost of this year's feast for 10 is $50.11, a 70-cent increase from last year's average of $49.41.

The big ticket item – a 16-pound turkey – came in at a total of $23.04 this year. That's roughly $1.44 per pound, an increase of less than 9 cents per pound, or a total of $1.39 per whole turkey, compared to 2014.

"Retail prices seem to have stabilized quite a bit for turkey, which is the centerpiece of the meal in our marketbasket," AFBF Deputy Chief Economist John Anderson said. "There were some production disruptions earlier this year due to the highly pathogenic Avian influenza outbreak in the Midwest. Turkey production is down this year but not dramatically. Our survey shows a modest increase in turkey prices compared to last year. But we're now starting to see retailers feature turkeys aggressively for the holiday. According to USDA retail price reports, featured prices fell sharply just last week and were actually lower than last year," he added.

The AFBF survey shopping list includes turkey, bread stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, a relish tray of carrots and celery, pumpkin pie with whipped cream, and beverages of coffee and milk, all in quantities sufficient to serve a family of 10.

Foods showing the largest increases this year in addition to turkey were pumpkin pie mix, a dozen brown-n-serve rolls, cubed bread stuffing and pie shells. A 30-ounce can of pumpkin pie mix was $3.20; a 14-ounce package of cubed bread stuffing, $2.61; and two nine-inch pie shells, $2.47.

Items that declined modestly in price were mainly dairy items including one gallon of whole milk, $3.25; miscellaneous items to prepare the meal, $3.18; a half pint of whipping cream, $1.94; and 12 ounces of fresh cranberries, $2.29. A relish tray of carrots and celery and green peas also decreased slightly in price.

Farm Bureau's report tracks closely with the Consumer Price Index for food eaten at home. For October, the most recent month available, the food at home CPI posted a 0.7 percent increase compared to a year ago (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm).

Full report online.

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SOURCE American Farm Bureau Federation