The Turkish cattle breeding sector has made considerable progress since the 2000s but still remains dependent on investments to improve its productivity.
Two models coexist: small farms of less than 5 heads practicing subsistence farming against large farms of more than 10,000 heads most often belonging to companies integrated into the food-industrial sector. In this dichotomous context, small farms often suffer from a lack of training and modern equipment, while large farms benefit from state-of-the-art equipment and personnel with a performance that is particularly illustrated in the dairy sector.
Despite an objective to end imports, the Turkish government applies a periodic import policy to find a balance between the growing consumption of red meat and economic factors (increase in raw materials impacting the entire supply chain), (meat, live cattle ).
In terms of sheep farming, Turkey performs by holding the largest sheep herd in Europe. It exports a significant part of its sheep production (processed meat and live sheep) to neighboring markets in the Middle East (Iran, Qatar, Lebanon).