Effect of agricultural supports on the economic sustainability of livestock enterprises (Seben district example, Bolu province)

The aim of this study is to reveal the effects of agricultural supports utilized by livestock enterprises on the economic sustainability of these enterprises. One of the objectives of agricultural supports is to ensure the economic sustainability of enterprises and to continue production. In the research region, the effect of agricultural supports on the sustainability of enterprises was investigated. In the study, 121 livestock enterprises with 5 or more cattle breeding and ovine breeding activities in Seben district of Bolu province were included in the scope of the research. A census method was used to determine the enterprises participating in the research and face-to-face questionnaire application was used to collect research data. Within the scope of the study, socio-economic characteristics of the enterprises, subsistence needs, the status of agricultural subsidies, production activity results and satisfaction with their enterprises were evaluated. SPSS package program was used in the evaluation of the data and the data were revealed by using chi-square, frequency distribution and cross tables. It is accepted that the enterprises have economic sustainability as a result of the fact that the income of the enterprises examined is equal to or more than the sum of the depreciation expenses of the enterprise, the capital interest of the enterprise, the household expenditures of the enterprise and the production costs (excluding family labor wage provision).It was determined that the enterprises participating in the study earned 79.004 TL agricultural income during the production period.It was calculated that the share of agricultural subsidies in agricultural income was 22.3%, which corresponded to 5.4% of operating costs.According to the findings of the research, it was determined that livestock enterprises are not economically sustainable without agricultural subsidies. In the study, it was concluded that the increase in agricultural subsidies will contribute to the continuation of agricultural activities and economic sustainability, depending on the increase in agricultural income of the enterprises.