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According to the president of Quebec Poultry Farmers, Benoît Fontaine, criticism from processors who believe that turkey production allocations are too high in relation to market demand is not new. “That’s their rhetoric, both chicken and turkey. But we understand the logic, because if you restrict the supply of products, the price will rise, which improves their margin[de profit]», he illustrates.
He also points out that the allocations are established by the Turkey Market Advisory Committee, which is an independent committee of Turkey Farmers of Canada. The suggestions of this committee must be approved by the Farm Products Council of Canada, “which is the equivalent of the right arm of the Minister of Agriculture in Ottawa,” he notes. According to him, this system still works very well and makes it possible to make good projections of supply and demand for this meat, within the limits of what the available data allows us to predict for the following year.
This data comes in particular from “farms, primary and secondary processors, competing protein markets and agricultural input markets,” specifies Turkey Farmers of Canada. These specify that the Turkey Market Advisory Committee must also take into account the risks faced by the sector, for example the detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza, which, over the last two years, has led to significant supply interruptions.
Too early to anticipate another drop in production
It is still too early to say whether the decline that has affected the turkey production sector in recent years will continue in 2025-2026, underline Turkey Farmers of Canada. However, they mention that the upcoming figures on Thanksgiving sales will provide a better overview of what is to come. “For the current period, from May 2024 to April 2025, the trade allocation was 132.75 million kg (Mkg), a reduction of 8.75 Mkg (6.2%) compared to the allocation of the previous period,” specifies the national organization in an email exchange with Earth. In its new strategic plan, the Canadian group highlights having devoted a specific component to the development of new markets, in addition to preparing in parallel a joint marketing campaign with the Poultry and Egg Processors of Canada to stimulate sales of this meat.
