Cattle Numbers Slip, Hogs and Sheep Rise

OTTAWA - Aug 21/12 - SNS -- Canadian cattle and calf inventories have fallen to 1994 levels slipping 0.1% to 13.5 million head between July 1, 2011 and July 1, 2012. At the same time, Statistics Canada reports hog inventories rose 1.5% while sheep inventories were up 0.6%.

The cattle herd shrunk 1.2% from July 1, 2010 to July 1, 2011, following a steady decline from its peak in 2005. As of July 1, 84,040 farms reported beef or dairy cattle, down 2.2% from the same date in 2011. The Canadian dairy herd declined 0.1%. A 0.5% decrease in the inventory of dairy cows was partially offset by a 0.6% increase in replacement dairy heifers.

The beef herd remained virtually unchanged in the wake of a 3.5% increase in beef replacement heifers. During the first six months of 2012, 1.6 million head of Canadian cattle and calves were sent to slaughter. This was a 2.2% decline from the same period in 2011 and 13.6% below the level for the same period in 2010.

Farmers exported 398,900 head of live cattle and calves during the first half of 2012, up 6.6% from the same period in 2011. However, exports remained 36.0% below the level for the first six months of 2010.

Hogs Rebound

Hog inventories continued their rebound, increasing 1.5% from July 1, 2011 to 12.9 million. This followed a 1.3% increase in the previous year, which in turn followed five years of declines. As of July 1, hog inventories had risen in three consecutive quarters.

On July 1, 7,200 farms reported hogs, down 1.8% from the same date of 2011. Farmers reported 1.2 million sows and gilts, a 1.1% increase from July 1, 2011. This total was down 0.7% from two years earlier.

During the second quarter of 2012, domestic hog slaughter totalled 5.1 million head, a 1.1% increase from the second quarter of 2011, but 0.2% below the level for the same period in 2010.

Total hog exports reached 1.6 million head, up 8.3% from the second quarter of 2011. Exports remained 34.7% below the second-quarter peak of 2.4 million in 2007.

Sheep Inch Higher

Farmers reported 1.1 million sheep, up 0.6% from July 1, 2011. Sheep inventories fell in two provinces: Alberta (-1.0%) and Quebec (-1.1%). They were unchanged in British Columbia. The biggest relative increases occurred in Manitoba (+4.4%) and Saskatchewan (+3.3%).

Inventories rose 0.6% for ewes, 1.5% for replacement lambs and 0.5% for market lambs compared with July 1, 2011. During the first six months of 2012, 329,500 sheep and lambs were sent to slaughter, up 1.3% from the same period in 2011. Canada exported 2,600 lambs during the first half of 2012, down 31.6%. Imports of sheep and lambs fell 31.2%.

Only active subscribers can read all of this article.

If you are a subscriber, please log into the website.

If you are not a subscriber, click here to subscribe to this edition of the STAT website and to learn more about becoming a subscriber.