Why Is Turkey So Expensive This Year? What Butterball Agreed to Pay $34 Million to Settle (2026)
The short answer
You picked up the frozen turkey, saw the price, and set it back in the case.
USDA expects the wholesale price of a frozen hen turkey to average 175.5 cents a pound this year. In 2025 it was 135.8 cents. That is 29% more, in a year with more turkey, not less.
In August, Butterball agreed to pay $34 million. It settles claims that it helped fix turkey prices from 2010 to 2016. It denies the claims, and no court has decided whether it did anything wrong. You are not imagining the price, and you get to choose who sets it.
What this guide answers
The turkey is one bird. What about the rest of your kitchen?
The free 3 minute scan goes room by room and tells you what to swap first. You give a first name and a cell, and your score comes by one text. Nobody calls. It is free because I would rather you see your own shelves than take my word for it.
Take the free home scanWhat did Butterball agree to pay?
Quick answer: $34 million, signed August 19, 2026, to settle a lawsuit brought by turkey buyers.
You stood at the meat case longer than you meant to, the bird cold in both hands, counting chairs.
You want a big, golden bird on the table for the people you love. Nothing wrong with wanting that. The problem is what the buyers who sued say Butterball did to the price.
Butterball calls itself "the most recognized and loved" turkey brand in the United States.
On August 19, 2026, it signed a deal to pay $34,000,000. The buyers who sued are businesses that bought turkey straight from the big companies. The court still has to give its final approval.
It was the last company those buyers were still suing. Every other one had already settled with them.
So what do those buyers say Butterball did?
What do the buyers say Butterball did?
Quick answer: they say it worked with other turkey companies to fix prices for seven years, from 2010 to 2016.
The deal spells out the claim. The buyers say Butterball joined a plan "to fix, raise, maintain, and stabilize the price of Turkeys."
In July, the court set a jury trial against Butterball for October 8, 2026.
On July 31, the court wrote that both sides "are strongly encouraged to settle their claims now."
Butterball signed less than three weeks later. The buyers' lawyers told the court the deal came "less than two months before trial."
So the buyers' case never reached a jury. None of it explains this year's price. That is where bird flu comes in.
Isn't it just the bird flu this year?
Quick answer: bird flu is back, and USDA still expects about 6% more turkey this year than last.
You heard it was the bird flu.
USDA counted bird flu in 11 commercial turkey flocks in September, 544,900 birds. August added 2 more flocks and 119,300 birds.
And yet USDA expects about 5.1 billion pounds of turkey this year. In 2025 it was about 4.8 billion.
The price went up anyway. USDA points to fall buying and calls it "ongoing demand strength."
Here it is on paper, next to the bird you put back.
| What happened | The concern | Named authority and date | What it does NOT mean |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frozen hen turkey forecast at 175.5 cents a pound for 2026 | Up from 135.8 cents in 2025 | USDA Economic Research Service, October 16, 2026 | That it is the tag at your store. Stores set their own |
| Bird flu in 13 commercial turkey flocks, August and September | 664,200 birds affected | USDA, October 16, 2026 | A shortage. USDA expects more turkey in 2026 than 2025 |
| Butterball agrees to pay $34,000,000 | A claimed plan to fix turkey prices, 2010 to 2016 | Settlement agreement, Northern District of Illinois, August 19, 2026 | Not an admission. Butterball denies it, and no court decided if it did anything wrong |
None of that names who set this year's price. It does show who paid to settle claims about the price before.
Didn't Butterball deny all of it?
Quick answer: yes. It denies the claims in the deal itself, and no court has decided whether it did anything wrong.
I know what you are thinking. A company can settle just to make a lawsuit go away.
That is fair, and I will not pretend otherwise.
In July, the judge threw out part of the buyers' case against Butterball. A jury could still side with them on the rest, the judge wrote, but the evidence "is far from overwhelming."
The court's own notice says it "has not decided whether" Butterball "did anything wrong." And this deal will not take a cent off your bird this year. It covers 2010 to 2016.
If you bought your turkey at a store, you are not in it. The money goes to businesses that bought straight from the companies. Their claims are due October 30, 2026.
It is not over, either. A second group of buyers was still suing in October. On October 19, 2026, the court ordered them and Butterball into "significant and earnest settlement negotiations."
Here is why I still would not hand them my holiday.
Butterball was the last one left, weeks from a jury. The court had told both sides, in writing, to weigh its view of the evidence. Butterball chose to pay $34 million instead of facing that jury. You do not need a jury to choose who sets the price of the bird on your table.
Where do you get a turkey you can trust?
Quick answer: from a farm near you, where you can meet the farmer and see the birds.
Find a local farm and get to know the farmer. Ask at your farmers market who raises turkeys.
Ask how the birds live and what they eat. Then find out what a bird costs, and why.
The farmer tells you that price to your face. You know whose name is on it.
I will not promise you a farm turkey costs less. Some cost more. What you get is a price from a person you can look in the eye.
For the rest of your house, I point you to Switch to America. It is a private membership store. We are the manufacturer. No middlemen, no markup.
Do one thing this week. Call one farm near you and ask about a turkey.
Shannon's Advice
Straight talk from ShannonI do not call them grocery stores. They are poison centers meant to do you and your family harm. It is not just the brands who are doing the harm, it is the stores themselves. They allow these toxic products on their shelves. People are sick and dying. This is a very serious matter. How can we ever trust them again?
We can't trust them. That is where Switch to America comes in. We are a new supply chain, built on family values, trust and affordability.
You do not have to take my word for it. The proof is in my blog posts, the recalls, the lawsuits and the fines, and in the app I built called The Family Home Toxic Scorecard. Also, inside my Switch Circle private community, we talk about real solutions.
Women come to me exhausted, in pain, stressed out, and on a list of prescriptions they never wanted. I have spent over 20 years helping women get off prescription medications. I help families reclaim their health.
We cannot stop them. I have stopped expecting to. However, we can stop walking into their stores. We are linking arms and together taking our control back. Control of our health and our finances.
Start by clicking the link below and taking the SCAN.
The receipts
- Settlement Agreement, direct purchasers and Butterball LLC, signed August 19, 2026. Butterball agrees to pay $34,000,000. The buyers say it joined a plan "to fix, raise, maintain, and stabilize the price of Turkeys" from 2010 to 2016. Butterball "vigorously and affirmatively rejects and denies" that. What it means: a payment, not a verdict.
- Buyers' memo, Case No. 1:19-cv-08318, Northern District of Illinois, filed August 21, 2026. The deal came "less than two months before trial." What it means: the last company left chose to pay.
- Court order, ECF No. 1913, July 31, 2026. The court says the buyers and Butterball "are strongly encouraged to settle their claims now." What it means: the court pointed both sides to its view of the evidence.
- Court-approved notice to the class, September 2026. "The Court has not decided whether" Butterball "did anything wrong." A final hearing is set for November 24, 2026. What it means: if you bought your bird at a store, this money is not yours.
- Court order, ECF No. 1987, October 19, 2026. Butterball and a second group of buyers are ordered into "significant and earnest settlement negotiations." What it means: other buyers were still suing in October.
- USDA, Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Outlook, October 16, 2026. Frozen hen turkey forecast at 175.5 cents a pound for 2026, against 135.8 cents in 2025. Turkey production forecast at 5,134 million pounds, against 4,844 million. What it means: more turkey, and a higher price anyway.
Who do you become?
You become the one who knows who raised the bird on your table.
It is Thanksgiving afternoon, and the kitchen is warm. You set the roast turkey on the counter slowly, because nothing about it makes you wince.
The farmer's number is on a scrap of paper by the stove. Next year you just call the farm.
It took one drive and one conversation.
Three minutes, room by room
You just sorted out the turkey. The free scan does the rest of the house and tells you what to swap first. It asks for a first name and a cell, then texts your score once. Nobody calls. After it, you are offered a $7 full report, and you can say no. Starting costs nothing because your own shelves will tell you more than I can.
Take the free home scanWhat else do people ask?
Why is turkey so expensive this year?
USDA expects the wholesale price of a frozen hen turkey to average 175.5 cents a pound in 2026, up from 135.8 cents in 2025. Bird flu hit 13 commercial turkey flocks in August and September, but USDA still expects more turkey. It points to strong demand.
Did Butterball admit it fixed turkey prices?
No. It denies the claims, and the deal says it is not an admission. The court has not decided whether Butterball did anything wrong.
Can I get money from the Butterball turkey settlement?
Not for a turkey you bought at a store. The money goes to businesses that bought turkey straight from the companies from 2010 to 2016. Their claims are due October 30, 2026.
What if there is no turkey farm near me?
Ask at your nearest farmers market who raises turkeys. If nobody there does, ask the farmers who they know. A few questions, and you have a farmer.