Prices are good with a high quality of bird for sale at the largest turkey auction in the country.
Several thousand turkeys a day will be sold at the Ashbourne market in County Meath. Prices this year range from £1.10 per pound upwards for hen turkeys and 90 pence a pound for cock turkeys. There is an increase in the number of free-range birds for sale this Christmas and dealers are pleased with the overall quality.
Auctioneer Robert Craigie offers advice when buying a turkey, consumers should choose a bird with a good round plump breast, a short leg and nice white flesh. The most popular turkey size is 14 to 16 pounds. In the catering trade, demand is for turkeys over 30 pounds in weight.
Consumers are getting high quality birds this year and the producers seem quite content too. They're getting good prices.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 17 December 1993. The reporter is Tom Kelly.
