Economic Perspective on Turkey's Beef Production and Consumption

Abstract

The livestock sector, which is the locomotive of the rural economy, has functions such as the production of animal foods, which play an important role in the balanced nutrition of the population, the provision of food safety and security, the supply of raw materials to the livestock-based industry, especially red meat and dairy products, and the contribution to national income, employment and foreign trade. Beef meat constitutes 74.83 % (1.460,719 tons) of the total red meat production in Turkey as of 2021. Among the cost factors that make up the total cost in cattle breeding, 50-60 % of is feed material while 25-40 % of is feed costs. The increase in the migration of the young population from the village to the city, who could not continue their livestock activities due to the high cost, caused a decrease in the population in the rural areas. While 250.836 small-scale enterprises with 1-49 cattle capacity existed in Turkey in 2017, this number decreased by 19.79 % in 2021 and was recorded as 201.177 enterprises. Meadows, pastures and forage crops constitute the raw material source of roughage needs to a large extent. According to the data of 2021 in Turkey, while the average hay production is 700 kg ha^-1, in Europe it is 5.8 tons ha^-1 in meadows and 1.3 tons ha^-1 in pastures. In certain periods, import policies applied for live animals and red meat carcass, together with the advantage of customs duty, created fluctuations in domestic market prices. Considering the increasing population and meat consumption demand, rational production planning and investment programs should be implemented in the sector. It is necessary to establish a market supply-demand balance in red meat, to reduce imports of butchery animal and carcass meat gradually in the medium and long term, to strengthen meadows and pastures, and to implement policies that will support local producers on the basis of cost and profitability.