(NAFB.com) – The cost to buy a Thanksgiving turkey could be lower this year, thanks to a drop in avian influenza cases and a recovery of the turkey population in the U.S. Farm Bureau economists analyzed turkey and egg prices and found that the average price for an eight-to-16-pound turkey typically served for Thanksgiving was $1.27 per pound lower than in August 2023. That’s 22 percent lower than the same time last year. “The status of HPAI is different now than it was just a year ago,” the economists say in a Market Intel Report. “Migratory birds are a major vector of this virus, which naturally makes spring and fall migration high-risk times.” June marked the first month with no detections since the outbreak began in February 2022. Egg production also saw a year-to-year increase, with 9.38 billion eggs produced in September 2023, a two percent increase from the same time last year.