[9] The new breed was characterized by early maturity, more breast meat, high hatchability, and an adequate size for smaller ovens and families.

However, in the following years, production slowly declined in favor of larger white strains to about 9 percent (9,000,000 of 93,370,000) of turkeys raised in 1963.

Since the Beltsville Small white was explicitly developed for smaller households, its size could not fulfill the shift in consumer demand for larger turkeys; precisely the demand of commercial food processors and restaurants in need of larger breasted turkeys.

[citation needed] Beltsville Small Whites are extremely rare today and are listed as Critical by the American Livestock Conservancy.

[2] In more recent years, the variety has seen a revival of interest specifically for those interested in heritage turkey breeds, including a research flock at Iowa State University and efforts to locate and conserve remnant flocks in the United States and Canada.