Turkey’s milk production rises in October

By Gokhan Ergocun</p> <p>ISTANBUL (AA) – Turkey's cow milk production rose 2.3 percent year-on-year in October, the country's statistical authority announced on Thursday.</p> <p>Cow milk production rose to 774,681 tons in the month from 756,970 tons in October 2017, TurkStat said in a statement.</p> <p>In the month, 135,992 tons of drinking milk was produced, down 3.3 percent from the same month last year.</p> <p>Data also showed that cheese production from cow’s milk fell 1.7 percent on an annual basis to 55,255 tons.</p> <p>&quot;Cheese production from sheep, goat, buffalo, and mixed milk was 1,445 tons, down 19.7 percent compared to the same month last year,&quot; it added.</p> <p>In October, Turkey also produced 96,393 tons of yogurt, 62,380 tons of the salty yogurt drink, ayran, 8,436 tons of milk powder, 5,873 tons of butter, and 2,201 tons of cream.</p> <p>On a monthly basis, the seasonal- and calendar-adjusted amount of collected cow’s milk fell 2.6 percent in October.</p> <p>Last year, around 9.1 million tons of cow's milk was produced in Turkey, with over 1.5 million tons of drinking milk production.</p> <p>The country's exports of dairy products and eggs amounted to $711.5 million, while imports stood at $126.4 million in 2017.