Canadian Livestock Inventories Down

OTTAWA - Feb 15/06 - SNS -- Canada's national cattle herd has declined for the first time in three years in the wake of the reopening of the American border to Canadian cattle, reports Statistics Canada, easing the situation for farmers who had to feed record numbers of animals.

The drop in January 1 cattle numbers was matched by declines in the number of hogs and sheep on farms in the country, While cattle numbers were off 2%, hog inventory slipped 1% and sheep numbers sank 4% for their third consecutive year over year decline.

Cattlemen had an estimated 14.8 million head on their farms as of January 1, 2006, a drop of about 233,000 head from the record 15.1 million head established a year earlier, according to the January Livestock Survey of 10,000 producers.

Despite the decline, the total was still over 1.3 million higher than levels as of January 1, 2003, before the worldwide ban on Canadian cattle resulting from mad cow disease.

The ban on Canadian cattle and beef took effect following the disclosure of a single reported case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) on May 20, 2003. The border remained closed to all Canadian beef until September 2003 and to live cattle until July 18, 2005, when it was opened to cattle under 30 months of age.

The BSE crisis left Canadian cattlemen having to feed record-high levels of cattle on their farms. It also crippled the nation's multi-billion-dollar cattle and beef exports to the world for 26 months.

Subscribers can read the full text of the article by Clicking here