PHOTO: CHRIS MCCULLOUGH
PHOTO: CHRIS MCCULLOUGH
FARM REPORT ▶▶▶
Turkish farms harmed by fluctuating currency
One of the current main challenges for dairy farmers in Turkey is the fluctuating value of the local lira currency, which has bumped up input costs and forced some farms into bankruptcy.
BY CHRIS MCCULLOUGH W PROFILE
Name: Emre Gurdal runs the family farm with his father, Arif Farm: Gurdal family farm, Aydın Province, farms on 300 hectares of land Dairy cows: 350 cows farmed organically with 450 fol- lowers and dry cows
ith these changes in currency, dairy farmers in this western Asian country find that 80% of their expenses are traded in euros and US dol- lars, which means they are paying more as the
value of the Turkish lira continues to fall. Although the Covid-19 pandemic has not affected dairy farms directly, it has hit the Turkish economy, causing more damage to the lira and bumping farm input costs up even more in the process. However, for the long-established Gurdal family farm, the key
focus is on increasing production from their 350 organically farmed cows, but at the same time resisting any expansion temptation. Emre Gurdal is the third generation of his family on the farm situated at Aydın Province in Turkey’s Aegean Region, and he currently runs the farm with his father, Arif. “Our farm is located in the western part of Turkey, close to a city called Aydın,” says Emre. “We’ve been dairying here for almost 60 years. My grandfather first established the dairy and then it passed to my father, with whom I am currently running the dairy farm.”
Emre Gurdal is the third generation on the farm. 12 ▶ DAIRY GLOBAL | Volume 8, No. 1, 2021
Organic milk “As far as we know the dairy started as a small one with 40– 50 heifers, and now it has grown to 350 cows with 450 follow- ers and dry cows. We are farming around 300 hectares of land for our cattle. “The cattle are all Holsteins, and the 350 cows are milked three times a day. Because our dairy is producing organic milk, our average yield is a little lower than expected, around 32 litres per cow with 3.7% butterfat and 3.2% protein,” he adds. As the temperatures in this part of Turkey can top over 40°C, the cows on Emre’s farm are mostly kept indoors but they do venture out occasionally. Emre says: “We usually feed them indoors, but during certain times of the year we let them graze outdoors. They are split into groups according to their yield and pregnancy status. “There are ten people working with the animals and one vet- erinarian. We have used AI for almost 30 years on our farm, which is also the first farm to try embryo transfer in Turkey,” he said. Depending on the seasonal labour requirements, up to 20 staff work on the farm with Emre and his father. The milk is sold to the local processor, Tire Dairy Cooperative, which pays around 2.3 Turkish lira (£0.22) (US$ 0.28) per litre for conventional milk. The cows on Emre’s farm are milked in a DeLaval ten-a-side fishbone parlour three times per day. Most of the feed for the cattle is grown on the farm, but some is imported.
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