Analysis of farmers utilizati̇on levels of livestock support schemes in bayburt province

The aim of this study is to examine the awareness level and utilization of agricultural supports by producers operating in the livestock sector in Bayburt province and their impact on agricultural enterprises between 2017-2021. The research material was collected from primary and secondary data sources. The primary data sources of the research were information obtained through a face-to-face survey conducted with 361 enterprise owners who were determined by simple random sampling method and who were engaged in animal husbandry and benefit from livestock supports in the Bayburt province center, Aydıntepe and Demirözü districts and their affiliated villages. In addition, data from various institutions and organizations (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Bayburt Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK)) on the subject constituted the secondary data sources of the research. In the study, crosstab analysis was used to reveal the characteristics of farmers, and CHAID (Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detector), one of the decision tree algorithms, was used to determine the factors that are effective in the level of benefiting from support. It was seen that almost all of the sample group of the study (90.7%) was male, and in terms of marital status, 88.9% were married, 10% were single, and 1.1% were divorced. Of the participants, 46.5% were 51+ years old, 40.2% were 31-50 years old, 12.7% were in the 18-30 age group, and 0.6% were under the age of 18. In terms of the duration of animal husbandry activity of the participants, it was determined that 95.3% had been engaged in production activities for 40 years and under, and 4.7% had been engaged in production for over 40 years. In terms of business type, it was determined that 58.4% had both livestock and plant production, 37.4% only livestock and 4.2% only plant production businesses. It was determined that the rate of producers raising large cattle in the livestock business was 75.6%, the rate of producers raising small cattle was 7.2%, the rate of livestock businesses doing both livestock activities was 13.9% and the rate of producers dealing with other livestock activities was 3.3%. In terms of income, it was determined that 48.6% of the businesses earned between 31 thousand and 70 thousand TL from livestock activities, 32.3% earned 71 thousand and above, and 19.1% earned between 3 thousand and 30 thousand TL. As a result of the research, it was found that the supports given to livestock in Bayburt province made a significant contribution to the interviewed producers in terms of socio-economic and agricultural aspects. Producers see calf support and forage crop support as the most important support items for the region. It is seen that the most important problem experienced by producers regarding livestock support is bureaucratic procedures. Benefiting from agricultural supports and awareness level, its effect and importance on agricultural enterprises, benefiting from agricultural supports and high awareness level, its direct effect on the development of agricultural enterprises and its role in ensuring sustainability have a critical and strategic importance. As a result, it has been concluded that livestock supports are important for sustainable livestock farming in Bayburt province. It is anticipated that our current results will provide significant contributions and benefits for strategies for the development of sustainable and competitive livestock farming and for research and researchers in the field.