Press release…
Republican People’s Party (CHP) Manisa Deputy and Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Affairs Commission Member Bekir Başevirgen said that things are not going well in the livestock sector and that even worse days are waiting for the sector.
Başevirgen said, “Our producers are being swept away in the loan-debt-execution cycle. They have given much more than the loan they received as collateral and have come to the point of losing their tractors, animals, houses and lands.”
“We are sadly witnessing that the entire livestock sector has ceased to be sustainable.”
CHP’s Bekir Başevirgen stated that at this point, the producer complained about the low prices for the goods and the consumers complained about the high prices on the shelves and added, “So much so that the citizens say, ‘It is not possible for our children to consume milk and dairy products enough with the wages we receive. We are sadly witnessing that the huge livestock industry has ceased to be sustainable.”
“On the other hand, the feed industry, which is one of the main stakeholders of the sector, also suffers from input costs and operating expenses. How can they not complain? Except for the salt and marble dust in the concentrated feed produced, most of the things are imported. The import prices of barley and corn, which are the main ingredients of the feed, are around 450 dollars for port delivery barley and 375 dollars for corn. Labour, energy, feed additives and transportation costs are increasing exponentially,” he concluded…