The cost of wrong policies applied in animal husbandry will be heavy for Turkey. While the livestock sector has been hit hard in the last 3 years due to the record meat and livestock imports in the history of the Republic in 2018, the meat crisis has come to a close. Due to the decrease in the number of slaughtered animals and the increasing feed costs, carcass slaughter prices exceeded 100 Turkish Liras (TL) and reached 110 TL. While carcass cutting prices have increased by more than 100 percent in the last year, the prices of minced meat have increased up to 150 TL. While meat prices are expected to continue to increase in the upcoming period, the support of 2,500 TL per animal, given by the Meat and Dairy Institution within the scope of cheap meat in Ramadan, did not attract attention from the breeder. The Meat and Dairy Institution (ESK), which has the task of regulating the meat and milk market, is locked. Since the decree of General Manager Mustafa Kayhan, who was appointed according to the legislation of the institution, has not been published for 1,5 months and the appointments to the vacant ESK Board of Directors have not been made, the ESK has come to a point where it cannot function against the meat and animal husbandry crisis.
2,500 TL SUPPORT WAS A FULL DISAPPOINTMENT!
The support of 2,500 TL per animal, which was put into practice by the ESK in the middle of Ramadan, in order to prevent the increase in meat prices in the domestic market by cutting the livestock of the breeders to the ESK was a complete disappointment. The Meat and Dairy Association was able to slaughter only 500 to 550 animals in the 16 days of support. In other words, the fact that only 500 to 550 animals benefited from the support of 2,500 TL, which was put forward as a big project within the scope of the cheap meat project, revealed the helplessness of the Ministry of Agriculture and the ESK in the face of the meat crisis.
BREEDERS DID NOT LOOK FOR THE ESK'S SUPPORT OF 2,500 TL
It is significant that the carcass slaughter prices continue to increase after Ramadan, while the breeders do not show interest in the 2,500 TL support application of the ESK. Carcass cutting prices, which went up to 85 TL in Ramadan, started to rise again immediately after the feast and reached 110 TL. With this increase in carcass cutting prices, the prices of minced meat rose up to 150 TL. While the carcass cutting prices increased to 110 TL in the free market, the fact that the ESK kept the carcass cutting prices at 74 TL reveals that it has completely disconnected from the market and the producer. With the support of 2,500 TL given in Ramadan, the carcass cutting price of the ESK increased to an average of 83-84 TL, and with the removal of the support after Ramadan, the carcass cutting price decreased to 74 TL. The large gap between the carcass slaughter price of the ESK and the slaughter price in the market reveals the extent of the great crisis in meat.
FATTENING IMPORT IS REQUESTED TO OPEN ASAP
Industry officials, while noting that business owners have serious difficulties in finding livestock to put in their barns, draw attention to the opening of livestock imports as soon as possible. The process of the delay in livestock imports in the meat crisis has become even more unmanageable. Industry officials, emphasizing that this will bring a new income to the sector, reveal the depth of the crisis by saying, “How will those who delay the import of livestock today open their butchery and boneless meat imports tomorrow, account for?” As it is known, livestock imports are a desired situation by the breeders in the sector, while direct butchery and meat imports are considered as an undesirable blow to the sector. The fact that the Ministry of Agriculture could not put forward a policy against the crisis in animal husbandry further deepened the meat crisis in the country, while this policylessness of the ministry lays the groundwork for direct meat imports.
THERE IS NO ARGUMENT OTHER THAN IMPORTS!
The inability of the ESK to come up with any formula in terms of regulation in the face of these drastic increases in carcass slaughtering prices is leading Turkey to boneless meat imports. The fact that the ESK does not have even 1 kilograms (kg) of meat in its stocks in order to intervene in the market, it also reveals ministry’s great lack of foresight in the face of the crisis.