Although expansion of the hog industry is the buzz in Western Canada these days, the dramatic rise in the Prairies’s meat sector has been under way for more than a decade.
Beef, hog and hen populations are growing in the West.
Statistics Canada reported last week that since 1986, Canada’s beef herd has grown 44 percent to 4.68 million animals in 1996.
During those years, the share of the industry centred in the West has expanded to more than 84 percent.
During the same period, the size of the Canadian hog population grew 13 percent to a near-record 11 million head.
Read Also
Ag minister says tariff situation with China is fragile, volatile
Agriculture ministers from across Canada said they heard canola producers’ concerns about tariffs but it seems unlikely they can do much about them.
Virtually all the beef herd expansion has happened in the West, which now holds more than 40 percent of the sector compared to 34 percent a decade ago.
In the first release of information from the 1996 census of agriculture, Statistics Canada reported that one in four Canadian farms now produces beef. It is the largest single farm sector.
The federal agency reports the western growth is due to several factors:
- Liberalized trade rules have opened up market opportunities for both Canadian live animals and meat products in the United States and the Pacific Rim.
- Canada’s low-valued dollar makes Canadian exports more competitive.
- Significant investment in the beef packing and processing industries in the West has increased the variety of products available for export.
The next census in 2001 will capture the impact that the 1995 end to grain transportation subsidies has had on livestock herds. It is expected that lower feed grain prices will encourage more farmers to feed animals rather than sell export grain.
The next national survey also should reflect the impact of the anticipated expansion both in hog numbers and pork processing plants.
“For pork, the rationalization has been slower and further investments will be required in some provinces to take advantage of growing export opportunities,” said the federal agency in its commentary on the livestock industry.
The West is picking up a greater share of the national poultry industry, not a traditional strong point for it.
While two-thirds of the industry remains in the East, the federal agency reported that during the past five years, growth in the hen flock was 10.5 percent in Western Canada compared to 6.5 percent in the East.
The national flock of hens and chickens grew 7.8 percent over five years to 102.3 million.
