PodcastTurkish milk producers struggle amid low fixed prices, rising production expenses
Turkey's milk producers have been struggling with skyrocketing production costs, as the sale price for a liter of raw milk was set in late 2019, since when the Turkish Lira has suffered from dramatic devaluation.
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Turkey's donkey population decreases by two thirds in 18 years under AKP gov'tTurkish milk producers are struggling as fixed prices per liter set by the National Milk Council have made it difficult to turn a profit amid rising production costs due to the depreciation of the Turkish lira, according to a statement from Turkish Union of Chambers of Agriculture President Şemsi Bayraktar.
The producer sale price for a liter of raw milk was set at 2.30 lira in November 2019, and that price will remain in place until the end of 2020.
However, due to the rising costs of hay, corn silage, and alfalfa as a result of inflation and the weak lira, Bayraktar said that the minimum fixed price should be 2.80 lira.
“If a solution isn't found for this problem, producers will be forced out of production and start slaughtering their animals,” Bayraktar said.
As inflation remains stubbornly high and the Turkish lira continues to grow weaker, the market prices of basic goods have soared in Turkey, making it difficult for consumers to purchase adequate amounts of groceries, as farmers struggle with the accelerated costs of production.
While the average EU price for 100 liters of raw milk was determined to be 32.50 euros, that figure was only 27.24 euros in Turkey, according to Bayraktar, who added that Turkey had the lowest milk prices on the continent after Latvia and Lithuania and that if pricing issues aren't resolved, it will create a problem for the Turkish dairy sector in the future.