Turkey has eliminated a 130 percent tariff on 500,000 tons of corn imports just weeks before the domestic harvest, triggering a backlash from farmers, who say the move threatens their already struggling livelihoods.
The decision, published in the Official Gazette on July 14 and valid through July 31, is intended to stabilize food prices and support the livestock sector. But agricultural producers say it could depress domestic corn prices as they prepare to bring in their crops in early August.
“The zero-duty import quota for 500,000 tons of corn right before harvest has caused significant concern among corn farmers,” said Mutlu Doğru, head of the Adana Farmers’ Union, a regional growers organization in southern Turkey. “We are already dealing with rising input costs and water shortages. Who exactly is benefiting from this policy?”
Doğru also noted that prices for animal feed, which relies heavily on corn, have not dropped despite previous efforts to lower import duties.
Farmers face drought, costs and competition
The move comes at a time of severe strain for Turkish agriculture. The 2024–25 growing season has been shaped by one of the worst droughts in 65 years and a damaging frost earlier this year, which officials say caused the most severe agricultural damage in three decades.
Crop output is expected to fall by 5 percent overall, with wheat production forecast to drop to between 15 million and 18 million tons, and barley to between 5 million and 6 million tons.
Farmers also face soaring fertilizer, seed and irrigation costs and are demanding that the state-run Turkish Grain Board (TMO) announce guaranteed purchase prices to protect local producers from volatile market conditions.
Fourth corn import quota in a year
This marks the fourth time in less than a year that the government has opened quotas to encourage corn imports, primarily from Russia and Ukraine. The series of measures has authorized the import of approximately 3.5 million tons of corn over the past 10 months.
While the agriculture ministry defends the policy as a way to contain food inflation and ensure feed security for the livestock industry, critics argue the benefits disproportionately favor large agribusinesses and global food processors.
“The primary beneficiaries of these import quotas are not consumers or small-scale farmers,” said agriculture analyst Ali Ekber Yıldırım. “They are the animal feed and starch industries, including multinational giants like Cargill,” he said, referring to the American multinational food corporation.
Corn is a key ingredient for animal feed and high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which is used widely in processed foods. Despite a high self-sufficiency rate, between 88 percent and 96.5 percent in recent years, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute, Turkey continues to record a sizable agricultural trade deficit. In 2024 alone, corn imports surpassed $862 million.
Deepening import dependence
Opposition lawmaker Ayhan Barut from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) called the tariff cut a “painful blow” to farmers in the fertile Çukurova region, one of Turkey’s agricultural heartlands.
“The government is abandoning its own farmers at the most critical time,” Barut said, warning that decisions like this will further entrench Turkey’s dependence on agricultural imports.
Analysts say that without long-term strategies to address climate resilience, production costs and domestic capacity, Turkey’s agriculture sector will remain vulnerable to global market fluctuations and environmental shocks.
“Unless structural issues are tackled,” Yıldırım said, “short-term fixes like tariff cuts will only deepen the crisis for local producers.”