‘Meat prices will not go down with this policy’

Cem YILDIRIM/ANKARA

Davut Karaman, a dairy farmer in Ankara, told SÖZCÜ about the contraction in the sector, problems in the production process and the crisis in meat prices. Karaman stated that the problems experienced in animal husbandry are the product of misguided policies over many years, “I am sorry to say; Caught between death and malaria, the producer quits his job and looks for another job. It is not possible for meat prices to go down with these policies in the future,” and he said:

IMPORT IS NOT THE SOLUTION

“To point out the mistakes made in our recent history, it would not be difficult to understand these price increases today. As you know we import live animals and butcher meat non-stop since 2010. All the ministers said this would be the last and production would increase. The point reached is proof that we have become dependent on imports and that this will not be a solution. In fact, the main reason for this importation is that the people who produce cannot earn money from the work they do, so they stop producing.

THEY SAY MANUFACTURER DAMAGE

It’s unbelievable, the national milk council, which should defend your rights, has set the cost of 1 liter of milk for March 2023 at TL 9.83. Although this figure is not true, milk is produced at a cost higher than this figure. Even if we accept this figure as real, the sale price settled by the national milk council is 8.50 TL. So they say that you lose 1.33 TL for each liter of milk, who produces and who loses? The problem starts here.

NUMBER OF LIVESTOCK DECREASED BY MORE THAN 1 MILLION

Let me explain this process to you. Imagine we have a cow, this cow gives us milk and a calf every year. The farmer and producer who sells the milk he buys from his cows buys food by selling his product. He covers the fixed costs of the farms and wants to earn money. In recent years, the producer has deliberately made losses. Every year the number of people who produced and the number of cattle decreased. These figures have decreased so much that even TÜİK could not hide it and the number of cattle has decreased by more than 1 million in the last year.

WITH THIS POLICY THE PRICE OF MEAT WILL NOT LOWER

Caught between death and malaria, the producer quits his job and looks for another job. Nobody wants to take such big risks when dealing with live animals and harming them, they are right. It is not possible for meat prices to go down in the future with these policies. The only way for meat prices to go down is to increase our production, we need to convince people again that this business will make money.

THIS JOB IS NOW OUT OF THE PROGRAM

At this point, don’t forget that we, as producers, also consume. Although we have not seen this sad panorama for a long time, we also face it. Although the price of meat has skyrocketed to the point we have reached, does the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry have any interpretations or suggestions? Unfortunately not. He himself knows that this business is now off the rails.”