August 30, 2005
Milking profits in Turkey's dairy sector
An eFeedLink exclusive report
Yoghurt and milk are staples in the Turkish kitchen. But where household dairy consumption was tied to a few dairy cattle in backyard farms, this mode of production is slowly changing as commercial dairy farms becoming increasingly important in meeting the dairy needs of the Turkish population.
Currently, 80 percent of all milk produced in Turkey comes from farms of less than 50 head of cattle a herd. The bulk of domestic milk consumption, at 65 percent, also comes directly from these small farms.
As such, overall productivity and output levels in Turkey are far below that of export-competitive dairy sectors in Western countries. Turkish dairy productivity stands at only 25 percent of that in the UK and Canada.
Adding to inefficiencies is the fact that only a third of the 6 million cattle in Turkey, or 2 million, are registered, making it difficult for governments to regulate the dairy and cattle industry.
But all this is slowly changing. The dairy sector, which provides much needed income for rural households and is rooted in a traditional Turkish diet rich in dairy produce, is a key recipient of the local government's agricultural support, through subsidies and training programmes for cattle farmers.
Under various local dairy schemes, small farms which meet standards of quality production and hygiene have the option of joining cooperatives. This often gives farmers access to milking parlours, cold storage facilities and cooling tanks.
Asyun Sökmen, a veterinary expert at Tusedad, an organisation which represents some 20 percent of Turkish dairy farmers both large to small, stresses that what is needed is a new generation of cattle farmers that can appreciate what agro-technology and science can do for the industry.
Already, Asyun observes that a new generation of dairymen are rising up and these are the children of current dairy farmers who grow up on the farms.
Given the right education and training, she says, this second generation of farmers will set the pace for improving the competitiveness of the dairy sector, by applying commercial business and industry-specific knowledge on their farms.
Richard Williams of cattle genetics company Cogent UK, may be the perfect example of farm boy turned cattle expert. Born in rural England and raised on a cattle farm, Williams went on to study economics at the university before returning to his "roots", as he says, in dairy farming, through specialising in cattle genetics and breeding via artificial insemination.
As one of the world's leading dairy exporting countries, "the UK example," says Williams, "has shown that technology must be embraced for the future sustainability and profitability of any agricultural sector."
But for technology to work well, dairy farmers must first understand the importance of livestock management, nutrition and the farming environments.
"Dairy farmers in Turkey have the misconception that they need only invest in high technology farming equipment and everything else will be well," explains Wes Bluhm, a technical consultant at the UK-based International Agriculture and Technology Centre.
"Training helps eliminate these erroneous concepts while ensuring that farmers have the right variable capital, in terms of labour skills, management know-how and feed technology, to better match the requirements of high-tech machinery and fixed farming capital," he said.
As in all competitive agricultural sectors, it is the consumers that will finally decide. Turkish people, muses Asyun, love going to open-air markets and buying their produce fresh.
"For this reason," she says, "Turkish farmers already know the importance of bringing their dairy produce fresh to the domestic market. And we are confident that this fundamental emphasis on freshness will stand our dairy industry in good stead for years to come."
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