Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and here at Zepol this means a time to get together with family and friends for a turkey dinner. The turkey is an American icon and has most certainly weathered this economic recession without difficulties…right?

According to the National Agriculture Statistics Service, domestic inventory has decreased from 2008 by 23.2 million heads to 249.9 million; this is an 8.49% decrease. One might try to attribute this decrease merely to the economic times, however total values in imports as well as exports have been going down since 2007, and according to NASS, domestic inventory in any one year during the past decade has not come close to the greater than 300 million head per year production seen in the mid nineties.

This is not to say that Americans are discarding their beloved bird. According to Rod Smith at Feedstuffs, this decrease has a very logical root; the increases in feed prices for turkeys have made the industry unprofitable for the past few years. This problem is only exacerbated by the decrease in exports to Mexico, traditionally the largest recipient of America’s turkeys and who currently holds 44% of the US export market.

Below is data pulled from our TradeView database that illustrates this trend in trade: