Christmas dinner eating up less cash for Shropshire's turkey shoppers

Reports that the price of turkeys had risen in some parts of the country by a whopping 13 per cent had been greeted with dismay.

Increased feed prices, transport bills and labour costs were thought to be sending the price of the traditional turkey dinner above the reach of the average shopper.

But in Shropshire, the price has risen a modest three per cent, in line with inflation.

David Cartwright, who runs Home Farm at Condover, said "The price of our Kelly Bronze turkeys have gone up by three per cent this year.

"We have done everything we can to keep the rise down but I do know that a lot of cheap turkeys, which were churned out for consumers last year, have shot up in price for a variety of reasons including transport costs and feed.

"However, here on Home Farm we just keep up with inflation.

"Orders are good at the moment but I do expect them to really pick up in the next few days."

Mr Cartwright explained that he buys his turkeys in as day olds in June and then rears them on to become healthy, slow-growing birds with plenty of meat.

"We get orders from all over the country because we have a good name for our turkeys," he added.

Will Brisbourne who runs Brisbourne Geese at Nesscliffe, near Shrewsbury is putting up the price of his birds by five per cent.

He said: "Affordability is the key for us and this is shown in our steady order book."

Mr Brisbourne, who farms 1,700 turkeys added: "Our orders are on a par with other years but I do expect orders to pick up now we are going in to December."

In the past two years, cheap turkey imports from Europe have affected British turkey imports. Britain now produces 16 million turkeys a year, half what was produced a decade ago.

Paul Kelly, chairman of the British Turkey Federation, said: "Turkey prices have risen by a massive 13 per cent in the last two years, with a six per cent rise this year alone. Massive fluctuations in the price of feed affects the price of a turkey."