The number of cattle, hogs and sheep in Canada as of Jan. 1 is down compared to last year, reflecting market uncertainty and rising input costs. 
Statistics Canada reported Feb. 17 that Jan. 1 hog inventories were down 10.2 percent year on year to 12.4 million. Cattle totaled 13.2 million head, which is a 5.1 percent reduction, and sheep and lamb numbers fell 2.1 percent to 808,200 head.
“Rising input costs, due in part to increased feed grain prices and market uncertainty, had an impact on producers in all three sectors, and exerted downward pressure on profits,” Statistics Canada reported.
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The national cattle inventory, which has been declining the past four years, has returned to pre-BSE levels seen in 2003.
The dairy herd fell 2.5 percent, while the beef herd fell 5.6 percent. The number of breeding cows is down 6.6 percent and the number of replacement heifers is down 9.7 percent.
As of Jan. 1 there were 86,520 farm operations in Canada reporting beef herds, down 3.8 percent.
Alberta’s beef herd was down 3.3 percent, Saskatchewan down eight percent, Manitoba down 6.1 percent and Ontario down 14.5 percent.
Combined, these provinces accounted for 89 percent of the Canadian beef herd.
In Ontario, the total cattle and calves inventory is the lowest since 1940.
Hogs inventory still shrinking
The decline in hog numbers continued a three-year downward trend.
Manitoba’s herd fell to 2.68 million, down 4.6 percent.
Saskatchewan fell to 810,000, down 31 percent.
Alberta fell to 1.63 million, down 9.4 percent.
The Canadian breeding herd, mainly sows and gilts, fell 7.1 percent to 1.4 million head.
Statistics Canada said major hog herd contraction since fall 2007 leveled off Canada’s hog marketings in 2008, reaching 31 million hogs.
Hog slaughter in Canada increased by two percent, while exports decreased by 7.1 percent.
Over the past two years, 47.6 percent of hogs produced in the western provinces were marketed to the United States. Country-of origin labelling in the United States has greatly slowed slaughter and feeder hog exports south.
Canada’s sheep and lamb herd on Jan. 1 was 808,200 head, down 2.1 percent from the year before.
Manitoba’s supply of sheep and lambs fell to 61,000 head, down 1.6 percent, Saskatchewan fell to 82,000, down 4.5 percent, and Alberta rose to 127,000, up 1.6 percent.
