Talking turkey: Va. is nation’s sixth largest producer

As we prepare to sit down to a turkey dinner on Thanksgiving, let’s consider where those birds come from and where they’re going.

Virginia raises 7.1% of all U.S. turkeys, or 15.5 million turkeys a year, according to a new study by Trace One using U.S. Department of Agriculture data. That’s 429 million pounds of turkey produced at an average weight of 27.7 pounds per turkey, with a value of $403.5 million annually. Virginia is the sixth largest producer of turkeys in the nation, the November study found.

Also, turkeys bred for food are larger than they were decades ago, and fewer turkeys are raised now; in 1996, U.S. farmers raised 303 million birds, and in 2023, 218 million turkeys were raised nationwide. But turkeys now average 32 pounds per bird, nearly double the average of 18 pounds in the 1960s. That’s due to different nutrition and breeding practices, Trace One researchers say.

Although turkeys are a significant part of Virginia’s poultry industry, the biggest seller is broiler chickens. Farmers in the commonwealth produced 284.5 million broiler chickens in 2021, according to the Virginia Poultry Federation. Total poultry and egg sales in 2021 produced a direct economic impact of $5.8 billion in Virginia.

More than 85% of U.S. turkey production takes place in 13 states, and North Carolina is the nation’s top producer, accounting for 15.3% of turkeys by weight. North Carolina’s birds are very large on average, at 36.9 pounds per turkey.

Hobey Bauhan, president of the Virginia Poultry Federation, notes that the average weight per bird can be affected by “heavy toms” — male turkeys that can weigh in at 45 pounds or more. “You never get a heavy tom on your Thanksgiving table,” he said, noting that such large birds are used instead for cold cuts. “The traditional Thanksgiving bird that you’re going to have is smaller.”

In 2023, India and the United States came to an agreement to reduce India’s tariffs on U.S. turkey products, allowing Virginia’s poultry producers to export turkey to India more affordably. On Nov. 12, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, a member of the Senate India Caucus, announced the first shipment of Virginia turkey to India via the Port of Virginia, whole birds raised by the Virginia Poultry Growers Cooperative, the Hinton-based organization of nearly 200 farmers in the Shenandoah Valley. The co-op processes about 7.5 million turkeys a year and offers organic and antibiotic-free products. VPGC produced an organic turkey breast product specifically for the Indian market, according to the co-op.

“This shipment is a tremendous opportunity for Virginia’s poultry producers and a huge step forward for U.S.-India trade,” Warner said in a statement. “As co-chair of the Senate India Caucus, I look forward to the ongoing cooperation between our two nations and to seeing a wealth of new opportunities open up for Virginia’s poultry producers.”

Tariffs are, of course, in the news again as President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to impose 25% tariffs on all goods from Mexico and Canada on “day one” after his Jan. 20, 2025, inauguration as well as an additional 10% tariff on China. However, Trump has not mentioned increasing tariffs on India since his re-election, and he and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have close ties.

Although Virginia ships turkey and other poultry products all over the world, including Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Canada and Mexico, entering the Indian market is “a big deal,” Bauhan said. “The turkey industry is a significant part of Virginia agriculture, directly employing about 4,000 people.”

Bauhan declined to speculate on the impact of new U.S. tariffs on Virginia’s poultry industry or the tightening of immigration regulations (including the likelihood of some immigrants being deported under the Trump administration), but he noted that Virginia’s poultry industry employs “a diversity of workers,” including many immigrants.

“We were one of the early industries to adopt E-Verify,” the federal platform that determines whether a person is able to be legally employed in the United States, Bauhan said. “We’ll continue to do that. Our economy needs immigrants, but we need to have reforms and pass federal legislation that will secure the borders and allow for legal immigration. The system has not been overhauled and addressed in many decades.”