A New Jersey turkey farmer just raised his Thanksgiving prices by 30 cents a pound, and his reason is sitting in a grain silo.
Quick Take
- DiPaola Turkey Farms in New Jersey raised its holiday turkey price by 30 cents per pound this year.
- Owner Artie DiPaola points to corn and soybean feed costs, which he says jumped 10 to 12 percent.
- Nationwide wholesale turkey prices are up 12 percent this year, squeezing small and mid-size producers.
- Government data show turkey feed costs have swung sharply over the past two years, echoing a pattern seen in past commodity spikes.
A Family Farm Explains Its Price Hike
Artie DiPaola runs DiPaola Turkey Farms in Hamilton, New Jersey. Ahead of this Thanksgiving, he raised his turkey price by 30 cents per pound. He told Fox Business the decision came down to one simple fact: the birds eat corn and soybeans, and that feed costs 10 to 12 percent more than it did last year. For a farmer who sells directly to loyal, repeat customers, he called the price hike an emotionally tough call.
DiPaola’s situation is not unique. Fox Business reported that wholesale turkey prices nationwide have climbed 12 percent this year, driven by feed, fuel, and other rising costs that hit smaller producers hardest. Big industrial operations can often absorb cost swings by spreading them across massive flocks. Family farms selling at local markets or farm stands rarely have that same cushion, so costs land directly on the price tag customers see.
What The Government’s Own Numbers Show
United States Department of Agriculture price reports back up the broader feed-cost story. Corn prices have bounced around for two years, climbing above four dollars a bushel at points in 2025 before easing. Soybean costs moved similarly. The agency’s modeled turkey feed mix runs roughly half corn and smaller shares of soybeans, meaning swings in those two crops ripple straight into what it costs to raise a bird for the holiday table.
Turkey prices tracked by the USDA have moved with that feed volatility. The December turkey price came in at $1.21 per pound, nearly 70 cents higher than the same month a year earlier. Industry groups tied to the Farm Bureau have also noted wholesale turkey prices climbing sharply in 2026, framing it as part of the sector’s slow recovery after two rough years of losses tied to disease outbreaks and feed costs.
A Pattern That Goes Back Decades
Feed-driven turkey price hikes are not a new complaint. During the 2006 to 2008 commodity boom, corn prices jumped from about two dollars to five dollars a bushel while soybean prices more than doubled. Feed made up roughly two-thirds of the total cost of raising a turkey back then, according to a Federal Reserve Bank analysis of that era’s price shock. The math driving DiPaola’s decision today runs on the same basic logic farmers faced nearly twenty years ago.
Thanksgiving shoppers face higher turkey prices as family farms struggle with rising costs https://t.co/UCjGH1Ebos
— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) November 12, 2026
That history matters because it shows feed costs are a real, recurring input problem for turkey farmers, not a convenient excuse invented this season. Research on how farm costs pass through to grocery shelves has found the relationship is often uneven and delayed, since farmers only receive a small slice of every food dollar spent, with the rest going to processing, transport, and retail markups. Still, when feed costs spike as sharply as they have, family operations with thin margins feel it fast.
What This Means For Your Holiday Table
For shoppers, the takeaway is straightforward. Turkey is costing more this year because the farmers raising them are paying more to feed them. That is not a mystery or a corporate trick; it is basic agricultural economics playing out at a family-run farm stand. Supporting these smaller producers, even at a higher price, keeps independent farms afloat rather than ceding the market entirely to the largest industrial operations.
Consumers heading into Thanksgiving week should expect sticker shock at both grocery chains and local farms alike. Wholesale prices up double digits nationwide mean the increase is widespread, not limited to one New Jersey farm. Families budgeting for the holiday meal can reasonably expect higher turkey costs this year, driven by the same corn and soybean markets that quietly shape much of what ends up on the American dinner table.
Sources:
foxbusiness.com, esmis.nal.usda.gov, capitalpress.com, ag.purdue.edu, minneapolisfed.org
