Local Turkey Provider Sold Out For Thanksgiving

Finding a local turkey for Thanksgiving may be a challenge as one local provider has no supply left.

Peaceful Pastures is located in Smith County and provides whole birds once a year for Thanksgiving. Owner Jenny Drake said the high demand is normal.

“We start taking reservations on Labor Day weekend, and we sold out I think November 4th. We sold the last bird out of 235 whole birds,” Drake said. “So, the market is very strong.”

Drake said supply overall has not been an issue this year. Drake said the company reserved the turkey eggs a year in advance. Drake said they are shipped to a hatchery in Kentucky, and then two days after hatching, they arrive in Hickman to be raised for about six months.

“They come to our farm and go into one of 100-year-old barns where they are in a broader,” Drake said. “It is a stall with fluffy bedding and heat. They are in there for two weeks, and then they get moved to pasture for the rest of their lives.”

Price however did change this year. Drake said turkeys are $6.99 a pound, a two dollar increase compared to before the pandemic. Drake said fuel costs are the number one driver for the increase.

“The trucks that we use to take the turkeys from the farm to the processor and the trucks that go pick up the frozen birds and take them to the freezer warehouse are all diesel,” Drake said. “The diesel prices are killing us.”