Local dairy producer's investment in eastern Anatolia to revive animal husbandry

The Integrated Technical Livestock and Manufacturing Facility to be built by SÜTAŞ in Bingöl will revive animal husbandry in the eastern and southeastern Anatolia regions.

To be constructed between the villages of Çeltiksuyu and Sarıçiçek in Bingöl by SÜTAŞ, one of the 19 companies supported by the project-based incentive system, the facility will employ hundreds of people directly, thousands indirectly and is expected to start production in two years.

The decision of the Council of Ministers to grant project-based state support to the investment to be realized in the city was published yesterday in the Official Gazette.

After Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım announced this decision to the town's citizens during his visit to Bingöl yesterday, heavy equipment immediately broke ground for construction of the facility.

The integrated plant to be realized with an investment of TL 733.7 million ($160.37 million) in Bingöl. Renowned as Turkey's livestock reservoir in the past with its large plateaus and pastures, Bingöl has contributed greatly to both animal husbandry and stockbreeders in the region.

SÜTAŞ board member İlhan İl said SÜTAŞ aims to "manage and develop the milk value chain from farms to tables as well as the resources entrusted to them in the most efficient way."

The SÜTAŞ investment in Bingöl consists of a dairy farming applied training center and farm, a forage crop production, a forage factory, a breeding dairy cattle development center, a stock-breeding farm, a dairy products factory, waste disposal, anaerobic treatment, biogas and electricity generation facilities, and organo-mineral fertilizer production facilities.

İl also pointed out that a milk and livestock diagnosis laboratory and health center, a genomic selection center, an embryo production center and a genomic bull breeding center will be included in the investments in Bingöl.

Noting that the dairy factory will have a milk processing capacity of 1,063 tons a day, İl said their investment will include five dairy cattle breeding farms each, with 2,000 milking capacity; 6,500-head capacity breeding dairy cow breeding farms; and 5,000-head capacity breeding farms. At the same time, the feed factory will produce 600 tons of feed per day; energy facilities will generate 6.4 megawatts of electricity; and an organo-mineral fertilizer production facility will have 80-ton capacity per day.

İl said the plant will start to produce within two years after its foundation and will be completed section by section within four years, adding that the facility, realized with a total investment of TL 733.7 million, will employ 12,000 people and contribute to 5,000 producer families with diary purchases from the region.

İl added that 150 vehicles will be used for milk collection, feed distribution, raw material procurement and goods delivery, and 635 vehicles for the sales and distribution of dairy products.

"The target is to export $75 million annually to Middle Eastern countries, Gulf states, the Turkic Republics, Iran, Russia and Azerbaijan. Our investment is expected to make an annual contribution of $99 million to the financing of the current account deficit," İl said. İl said with the Regional Development Project, the region will be an important center for the production of herbal and animal products.

Stating that 332 million liters of milk will be processed per year, İl said a large part of this milk will be produced by regional farmers with the contracted dairy cattle model.

Bingöl Breeding Cattle Breeders Union Chair Doğan Koç said cattle breeding will be revived by SÜTAŞ.

Stating that SÜTAŞ will make a great contribution not only to Bingöl but also to the surrounding provinces by employing close to 1,000 people, Koç said it will greatly increase the productivity of industrialists and manufacturers in the region. "With this investment, both herbal and animal production will increase because in addition to the milk production, breeding animals will also be raised. I believe that animal husbandry will return to its old days," Koç said.

Çeltiksuyu village mukhtar Yüksel Gürdeğir also hopes the investment will be beneficia

l for Bingöl and Turkey.

Gürdeğir expressed that they are pleased the investment in their village. "With this investment, 1,000 jobs will be provided. We expect our villagers to benefit from this employment," he added.

Sarıçiçek village mukhtar Ahmet Aslan, on the other hand, said SÜTAŞ's investment will benefit the entire region, especially their village, underlining that with this investment, young people will not need to leave the region to find work and that immigration to the city will increase.