Turkey: Livestock and Products Annual
The Government of Turkey has just assigned the new Agriculture Minister last month, Ahmet Esref Fakibaba, who has prioritized dealing with high meat prices and reducing beef meat imports. Recently milking cows have been sent to slaughter due to high meat prices and low raw milk prices. Import policies continue to favor government-affiliated importers over the private sector. Dairy and beef numbers, production and imports continue to grow, albeit slowly. The cattle population is expected to grow in 2018 due to large increases in feeder cattle imports, however, as anticipated last year, carcass weight will be stagnant because of continuously rising feed prices. According to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkSTAT) and Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MinFAL), the Turkish national cattle herd is calculated at 14.2 million head in 2016 (including buffalo), which is 0.6 percent higher than the previous year. Milking cow population decreased 1.8 percent and slaughtered cattle increased 3.3 percent in 2016, compared to 2015.
