Teacher becomes stockbreeder in rural farm

SAMSUN

A kindergarten tutor in the Black Sea province of Samsun has left everything behind to make her father’s dreams come true, becoming a stockbreeder with some 26 cattle.

“Life in the village is surely better than the one in cities,” Merve Akbulut told Anadolu Agency.

The 24-year-old ex-teacher’s life changed when she was infected with the COVID-19 virus last year. When she was in isolation, she started researching on stock farming online.

“My father died 1.5 years ago. He passed down a farmhouse for me in the rural areas of the Bafra district. He always wanted me to be on the farm,” she said.

Quitting her job in the city, with the full support of her mother, Akbulut started her village life with nearly 30 cattle.

The first thing she did was to make a deal with a restaurant to supply the meat. The second was to buy new lands to grow business.

“Now I have 10,000 square meters of land,” the new farmer said.

She said she has two more dreams for the near future: To increase the number of the cattle to a minimum 100 and produce her own animal forage.

Talking about her daily routines, she expressed that she starts the day early in the morning to feed the animals. “Then she comes to clean the barns,” she said and added: “The afternoons pass with veterinarian works.”

Saying that she is used to being with animals, she stressed, “I can even inoculate the animals myself.”

She also made a call to the people to follow their dreams, saying she never had any regrets leaving the city life.

“Thank God, I made such a decision,” she added.