May’s turkey slaughter figures continue to represent the ongoing trend of tight supplies. For the tenth month in a row, a new seasonal record low has been set with May’s figures coming in 11% below last year. The extremely limited availability of turkey meat has pushed quotations for 21 of Expana’s lines to all-time highs and has resulted in Expana’s turkey index reaching the second largest value on record, trailing only behind 2022.
During the month of May, there were still turkeys lost to HPAI. Additionally, very few of the birds harvested in May had been vaccinated with the new modified live avian metapneumovirus vaccines. Without the vaccine, avian metapneumovirus left many processors with higher mortality rates and struggling to maintain target weights. Now that the vaccine is in place and we are just now starting to see the effects, the results look promising. Most flocks have only been given the initial hatchery dose, and many of these flocks show improvement in younger, smaller birds, but not in the larger, older ones. With that said, a limited number of flocks that have received both the initial dose and the on-farm booster have reported that the improvements to growth performance and livability have carried out throughout the whole grow out.
The lack of turkey HPAI cases in recent months, along with the gradual impacts of the avian metapneumovirus vaccine lead many participants in the industry to be cautiously optimistic that slaughter figures may show more production in the coming months. Additionally, recent discussions do indicate that while supplies are still very tight, more of the parts may be beginning to surface. However, there is still some wariness in such thinking as participants throughout the industry are well aware that this fall’s migration could bring a new round of disease.
Co-authored by:
Dylan Hughes
Expana
1-732-240-5330 ext 286
[email protected]
Image source: Shutterstock
Written by Elsi Rodewald
