Where’s the Beef? National cattle herd falls again

OTTAWA — Canada’s national cattle herd has been steadily declining since the U.S. decided to reopen its borders to Canadian live cattle in July 2005.

For the second consecutive year, the breeding herd fell in most provinces, according to the July Livestock Survey of 16,000 producers by Stats Canada
As of July 1, 2007, cattlemen reported 15.9 million head on their farms, down 0.7 percent from the same date in 2006 and 5.9 percent below the record 16.9 million head set in 2005, when producers held back thousands of animals from the marketplace following the BSE-related closure of the border to the American market. The American border was reopened to live cattle under 30 months of age on July 18, 2005.

However, in Alberta — Canada’s largest cattle-producing province (41 percent) — the herd increased 2.7 percent between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007. StatsCan says this Alberta anomaly is a result of greater demand for steers and heifers among feedlot operators.

Decreases ranged from 2.1 percent in Quebec and 3.9 percent in Ontario to 8.3 percent in Manitoba, 0.6 percent in Saskatchewan and 1.8 percent in BC.

Census data showed that in the case of both cattle and hogs, the number of producers is on the decline, but the size of the average operation is rising. The cattle industry is not dominated by any one particular size of farm as large numbers of cattle can be found on small, medium and large operations, reports StatsCan.

In the beef sector, provincial declines ranged from 4.6 to 9.6 percent. In the dairy sector, decreases were stronger, ranging from 11.5 percent to 37.7 percent.