The bankruptcy of 'Urban Cowboys' or a country of farms for sale

In Turkey, entrepreneurs who had never engaged in livestock farming before but turned to dairy cattle farming with extraordinary state support were dubbed "Urban Cowboys." Usually starting with 300-500 head of cattle, these urban cowboys soon established operations with 1,000-1,500 head. Some even came to own operations with 2,000-3,000 head.

WHY WERE URBAN COWBOYS CREATED?

The reason for the creation of giant cattle operations by urban cowboys is primarily the result of an ideological approach.

According to this approach, peasant farming based on small and medium-sized enterprises should be abandoned in favor of industrial agriculture, and large-scale corporate farming should become dominant. This is because peasant farming cannot utilize sufficient industrial inputs and cannot produce enough.

This ideological approach, put forward by Western (Central) countries, was also accepted by all governments in Turkey since the early 1980s.

As a result, agricultural subsidies were reduced, but existing resources began to be used for the creation of large enterprises.

In this context, the necessary regulations were provided for the establishment of giant cattle operations that are most open to industrial inputs.

As is known, giant cattle operations use industrial inputs heavily, ranging from breeding stock to milking machines, and from medicine to factory feed. These inputs also enter Turkey by being imported from the West.

Initially, this approach imposed by the West received great support from liberals in Turkey, and political powers acted in line with this approach.

The promotion of corporate farming was also brought to the agenda during the European Union negotiation process, based on the milk poured into industry and the issue of increasing milk quotas.

However, especially within the last decade and increasingly today, not only our small and medium-sized farmers, who are based on family labor and make up the vast majority of businesses, but also the Urban Cowboys who established giant dairy cattle operations have begun to complain about milk cartels.

HAS TURKEY BECOME A COUNTRY OF FARMS FOR SALE?

Like many patriotic agriculturalists, I have written for years that "corporate farming is not suitable for Turkey's structural characteristics, that those who enter this business by being tempted by the allure of the loans provided will be in a difficult situation, and that Turkey will become a country of farms for sale."

In this context, countless warnings were made. Nevertheless, as I mentioned above, with neo-liberal policies, corporate farming was encouraged with extraordinary support instead of small and medium-sized enterprises, which make up the vast majority of businesses.

Since the end of 2010, billions of dollars in "zero-interest" loans were utilized for the establishment of giant cattle operations.

Those who received the zero-interest loans could not find breeding stock in the domestic market and pressured for imports. Many importing firms were established, and import lobbyists profited from the situation.

In fact, the real profit was made by exporting firms in the EU/USA that had stocks of cattle.

Because their stock of cattle had become a problem.

Those who established the farms were disappointed after a while.

Because there was an extraordinary rise in input prices, including feed, while milk prices did not increase in the same way as they were determined by milk monopolies.

The urban cowboys began to express that "they made investments by seeing the quality milk deficit and trusting the support provided, but due to the drops in milk prices, they remained in a worse situation than small farmers, they had no role in determining the price of milk, everyone would be harmed by their bankruptcy, therefore they should first take action against the arbitrary reduction of raw milk prices, they were dependent on foreign countries for feed raw materials and breeding animals, and in fact, with these imports, they were helping the farmers of foreign countries."(*)

Moreover, when the import of milk powder from abroad was sometimes allowed, milk prices were reduced even further.

When the inexperience of entrepreneurs who were tempted by the loan but were unaware of the sector was added to this, many businesses reached the point of closure.

In contrast, it was observed that although the number of animals in peasant farms decreased, they maintained their existence.

WHAT IS THE MODEL IN DAIRY CATTLE FARMING?

I would not have wanted my predictions to be confirmed. However, the model staged in livestock, as in other branches of agriculture, did not turn out to be in Turkey's favor. Let us express what the correct model is with two important points here.

In developing countries, labor is more abundant, so the opportunity cost is lower; in addition, land and capital are also lower in cost.

For this reason, small and medium-sized enterprises based on family labor have a higher total productivity.

The problems arising from the scale size of these enterprises can be overcome through the provision of public investments and services and through cooperativization.

In countries like Turkey, these enterprises also have a social aspect. Because this aspect of the business is neglected, unemployment and poverty are increasing in rural areas.

In Turkish livestock, especially in red meat production, it is necessary to prioritize sheep and goat breeding over cattle breeding. The reason can be answered simply as follows: Our country is in a semi-tropical belt. As a result, our pastures consist of short, weak, and sparse grasses. Sheep and goats show a more suitable characteristic for such ecological environments.

In cattle breeding, due to the insufficiency of our pastures and meadows, the need for fodder is tried to be met from forage crops such as corn silage and alfalfa.

However, water and electricity are paid. Correspondingly, factory feed has been brought to the forefront in fattening and breeding. 60 percent of the raw material for factory feed is also based on imports (foreign currency). Since it is not possible to control foreign currency, meat and milk production costs are rising steadily.

(*) In today's Turkey, companies engaged in giant dairy cattle farming have begun to withdraw from the market. The latest addition to these is the Efeler Farm, which was established on 800 decares of land in the Germencik district of Aydın in 2005 and produced milk by importing 3,000 heifers from Western Australia in 2007 (See: Why would a family leave a sector they have been working in for 170 years? January 3-9, 2025 Oksijen Newspaper, p.34)