The Canadian cattle herd is continuing to expand like a giant snowball rolling down a hill.
If Canfax predictions are accurate, more processing plants are needed to remove cattle that will be ready for slaughter within the next two years.
In 2004, the national herd was 14.6 million cattle, up 8.6 percent over the previous year because of blocked trade on live cattle.
A further increase of 2.5 percent is forecast for the January 2005 census, resulting in a herd of more than 15 million head. Alberta experienced a 2.3 percent growth in 2003, creating a cow herd of 1.96 million with further growth next year of 3.6 percent. That means more than two million head of beef cows, said Canfax analyst Lyndsay Routledge.
Read Also
The Western Producer Livestock Report – July 31, 2025
Western Producer Livestock Report for July 31, 2025. See U.S. & Canadian hog prices, Canadian bison & lamb market data and sales insights.
Current weekly kill at capacity is 81,000 cattle in federal and provincially inspected plants across Canada.
In January 2005, more than 85,000 are expected to be killed per week as added capacity comes on at XL Foods, Atlantic Beef and Rangeland Beef.
By the end of 2005, packers are expected to be handling 95,000 per week once expansion at Tyson Foods is completed.
By late 2006, weekly kills could reach 100,000 head if new plants are built or if Cargill Foods at High River expands.
Glenn Brand, merchandising manager for the Beef Information Centre, said there is potential to use the extra beef as record demand continues and more markets open.
Last year Canadians consumed a record one million tonnes of beef. Brand said that is likely to drop to 950,000 tonnes partly because of better exports to the United States, Mexico and Hong Kong later this month.
There has also been a significant decline in imported beef since BSE disrupted markets. Most of this was deli cuts or hamburger patties.
“We hope to see 90 percent of the commercial beef produced will be a product of Canada,” Brand told the Alberta Beef Producers annual meeting last week.
