The population of farm-raised turkeys fell in 2025, continuing a decades-long trend of shrinking.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service reported an initial population estimate of 194.5 million, which represents the total production of turkeys on U.S. farms for 2025. The NASS also revised its 2024 population estimate downward, from 205 million to 200 million.
The decline in the population of turkeys has been ongoing since the population of farm-raised turkey's in the U.S. peaked at 302.7 million in 1996. 2025's estimated population of 194.5 million farm-raised turkeys was last previously observed between 1985 and 1986, when the production of turkeys surged from 185.4 to 207.2 million because of increased demand for lean protein during the low-fat diet craze of that era.
The Epoch Times describes the rise and fall of turkey in America and what that says about how much turkey Americans are eating:
Turkey consumption in the United States has followed an arc over the past century, driven by agricultural, technological and health trends.
According to the USDA Economic Research Service, the average person in the United States ate less than three pounds of turkey a year in the 1930s and 1940s. By 1960, that number had doubled, as producers introduced specialized bird breeds that yielded more meat.
Advances in production and the introduction of processed products such as luncheon meats, ground turkey, and deli items drove turkey’s popularity in the 1980s. Marketing campaigns promoted the bird as a healthy, low-fat meat.
Annual turkey consumption rose from an average of about 10 pounds per person in 1980, to a peak of 18 pounds per person in 1996.
Since that time, however, consumers have been steadily eating less turkey. In 2025, average turkey consumption is projected to be just over 13 pounds per person, a nearly 40 year low.
In total, the USDA projects 4.5 billion pounds of turkey will be eaten in 2025—the lowest amount since 1990, according to the latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report.
The USDA estimates 195 million turkeys were raised in 2025, the lowest number in 40 years. This is the second consecutive annual decline, with production falling about 3 percent from 2024 and around 11 percent from 2023.
The following interactive chart presents the number of farm-raised turkeys for each year from 1970 through 2025:
Americans will eat about 30 million of those 194.5 million farm-raised turkeys during the 2025 Thanksgiving holiday.
On a final note, our interactive chart doesn't account for the population of wild turkeys in the United States. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service indicates that portion of the total population of turkeys in the U.S. was around 6.5 million in 2024. Without anything to suggest any major changes in the wild population has occurred, we assume this estimate is still valid. Including the wild population of turkeys with farm-raised turkeys brings the total estimated population of the bird up to 201 million for 2025.
References
U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service. Livestock Historic Data. [Online Database: Survey - Animals & Products - Poultry - Turkeys - Production - Turkeys Production Measured in Head - Total - National - US Total - 1929-2025 - Annual - Year]. Accessed 23 November 2025.
Image credit: A group of turkeys in a fenced area photo by Heather Gill on Unsplash.
Labels: thanksgiving
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