Turkey: Livestock and Products Annual

The cattle number forecast for 2022 is expected to be 18.8 million head. This three percent increase in the cattle estimate is a result of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MinAF) subsidies for calf production and projected feeder cattle imports for 2022. Feed costs are also a major concern for the livestock industry in Turkey, accounting for 80 percent of total expenditures. Raw milk prices set by the National Milk Council are too low and don’t account for all increased production costs. Traditionally, Turkey mostly imports feeder cattle from Brazil, Uruguay, and the Czech Republic and breeding cattle from Germany, Austria, and Czech Republic. Thus far in 2021, however, Denmark has been the most successful breeding cattle exporter, increasing exports to Turkey because of low Jersey prices. In 2022, meat production is forecast to be slightly higher than 2021 at 1.2 million MT. In 2020, within Turkey’s scope of free trade agreements, Turkey imported 6,223 CWT of meat.