Families Wanting Smaller Turkeys For Thanksgiving May Cause Shortage

Chances are, you're not going to Grandma's house for Thanksgiving this year. You'll probably have to cook dinner in your own house this Thanksgiving, so you won't need a huge turkey for a couple of people.

The New York Times cited surveys from Hormel Foods, Kroger, and Butterball that all came up with "Thanksgiving is just immediate family this year." They found that 70% of Americans are going to be changing their typical plans to adjust because of the pandemic.

Because of this, many farmers are trying to plan ahead and harvest turkey's earlier this year, so that they're smaller. The idea is, a family of 4 doesn't need a turkey for 16 people.

The problem the farmers face is contracts set in place a year ago.

"It's not an industry in which you can quickly pivot," Farmer John Peterson said. "For us to have any meaningful impact on changing anything for Thanksgiving, those decisions had to be made in March or April."

So, it sounds like there probably won't be a whole lot of extra

The question grocers face is whether customers will buy just turkey breast, big chickens, normal turkeys, or smaller turkeys.