Activity has begun in the sacrificial animal market in Erzurum

As Eid al-Adha approaches, activity has started in the animal markets in Erzurum. Erzurum, one of the important centers of both large and small livestock farming in Turkey, has seen movement in the market. Livestock breeders in rural areas are slowly transporting their animals to Western provinces and markets.

Islam Yildirim, the President of Yakutiye Chamber of Agriculture, emphasized that there is no numerical problem in terms of animal population and stated, ‘We have enough number of animals to meet the demand. However, there is a 70-80% increase in sacrificial animal prices compared to the previous year.’ Yildirim attributed the increase to inflation and the rise in input costs in the agriculture and livestock sector, saying, ‘These two factors constantly drive up the prices of sacrificial animals. It is difficult to predict the trend of this increase towards Eid al-Adha. But the likelihood of it increasing further is higher.’

‘The production and consumption of roughage is important’
Yildirim, mentioning that the need for industrial feed is constantly increasing, said, ‘We advocate that as a country, we must increase the production and number of facilities of roughage. This also increases meat and milk productivity. This has a positive impact on both us and the citizens.’

‘We cannot find shepherds for 50-60 thousand salaries’
Islam Yildirim, the President of Yakutiye Chamber of Agriculture, continued as follows: ‘We are having difficulty in sourcing shepherds. In recent years, there has been a high demand for Afghan shepherds in our country. However, these people prefer short-term employment as shepherds and tend to shift to other sectors. This situation has a negative impact on our country’s employment, revealing the fact that we cannot find shepherds and cannot employ them for a long time. It also leads to an increase in shepherd salaries. Many of our colleagues cannot find shepherds for 50-60 thousand liras.’