Large-scale cattle producers raising animals at 640 lira per kilogram while slaughterhouses pay 575-590 lira

Data from meat-processing plants and slaughterhouses across seven regions from the Aegean to East Anatolia show that large-scale cattle producers raise animals at a cost of 640 lira per kilogram but sell them for 575-590 lira; the resulting 50-70 lira gap is forcing producers to scale down.

Güven Oktay, owner of Güven Livestock, who has been in the sector for approximately 30 years, put it this way: "Feed, hay, and fuel are expensive, while what we get for slaughter is cheap." Oktay stressed that cattle farming is no longer profitable and that the current price structure threatens the very survival of operations.

Regional conflicts disrupting supply chains have driven up fuel, feed, and hay costs sharply over the past year. Slaughterhouse purchase prices, meanwhile, have remained frozen. Producers say this stagnation is discouraging new investment and pushing them to reduce herd sizes.

The dynamic directly affects the supply-demand balance in red meat and may ultimately be passed on to consumers. According to Ekonomim, producers are demanding that slaughterhouse purchase prices be raised to at least cover production costs — warning that without action, the pace of exits from the sector will accelerate.