Livestock estimates, July 1, 2023
Released: 2023-08-23
On July 1, 2023, Canadian cattle, hog and sheep inventories were down compared with the same date one year earlier.
Canadian cattle inventories have been on a downward trend since July 2021. Similarly, this was the second consecutive cycle with a year-over-year decrease of Canadian hog inventories. Canadian sheep inventories declined year over year for the first time since July 2020.
Drought conditions and tight feed supply in Western Canada, along with reductions in processing capacity in Eastern Canada, continued to put pressure on the livestock sector.
Cattle and calves
Canadian farmers held 12.2 million cattle and calves on their farms on July 1, 2023, down 1.5% from the same date the previous year. Alberta held the largest cattle inventories among the provinces on July 1, contributing 43.2% to the national total, followed by Saskatchewan (20.5%) and Ontario (13.2%).
Chart 1
Total cattle inventories, July 1, 2022, and July 1, 2023
Canadian cattle producers retained less breeding stock on July 1, 2023, with year-over-year decreases observed in all breeding stock categories. Meanwhile, producers held more feeder heifers (+1.8%) but fewer steers (-0.3%) compared with July 1, 2022.
From January to June 2023, the total disposition of cattle and calves was down 4.5% compared with January to June 2022. During the same period, cattle and calves slaughter declined 4.6% to 1.8 million head, and international cattle and calve exports decreased 16.3% to 344,900 head. Tight supply and strong prices of cattle for slaughter contributed to these declines.
Hogs
Canadian hog producers reported 13.8 million hogs on their farms on July 1, 2023, down 1.0% from the same date one year earlier. Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba continued to hold over 80% of Canada's hogs, with Quebec accounting for nearly one-third (30.9%) of Canadian hog inventories, at 4.3 million head.
Chart 2
Total hog inventories, July 1, 2022, and July 1, 2023
On July 1, 2023, hog producers reported 1.2 million sows and gilts (-0.3%), and the number of boars decreased by 1.8% year over year to 16,200 head.
From January to June 2023, the total hog slaughter increased 0.2% to 11.1 million head, and international exports of live hogs increased 0.8% to 3.3 million head during the same period.
The pig crop, which represents the number of live piglets after weaning, rose to 15.0 million from January to June 2023, a 1.1% increase compared with January to June 2022.
Sheep and lambs
On July 1, 2023, Canadian inventories of sheep and lambs were down 1.5% year over year to 1.1 million head.
Chart 3
Total sheep inventories, July 1, 2022, and July 1, 2023
The sheep breeding herd declined 2.4% year over year on July 1, 2023, to 637,800 head, as inventories decreased in the number of ewes (-2.2%), rams (-2.4%) and replacement lambs (-2.9%). Inventories of market lambs declined 0.3% year over year to 416,700 head, primarily because of an increase of slaughter in Eastern Canada. For the first half of 2023 (January to June), sheep and lamb slaughter increased 13.9% year over year to 388,700 head.
For the January to June 2023 period, international exports of live sheep and lambs decreased 37.2% year over year, down to 11,500 head. Meanwhile, international imports of live animals dropped 28.6% to 9,500 head.
Note to readers
Livestock estimates are available for Canada and the provinces, as well as for the United States.
Intercensal revisions
Following the release of the 2021 Census of Agriculture data in May 2022, intercensal revisions to the Livestock Estimates data for years 2016 to 2021 are now available.
PigTRACE data
As of the January to June 2017 period, this release uses administrative data collected by the Canadian Pork Council (CPC) to estimate interprovincial hog imports and exports, defined as the movement of pigs to a different province for non-slaughter purposes. This approach is in line with Statistics Canada's AgZero Initiative, which aims to produce high-quality estimates using models, administrative data and other non-traditional survey-based approaches.
Since July 1, 2014, reporting to PigTRACE is mandatory by law for all people and organizations participating in the movement of pigs. It is, however, recognized that if premises do not report their movements to the CPC, there may be undercoverage in the PigTRACE estimates. Adjustments may be applied to the PigTRACE estimates in cases of known or suspected undercoverage.
Random tabular adjustment
The random tabular adjustment (RTA) technique, which aims to increase the amount of data made available to users while protecting the confidentiality of respondents, was applied to the estimates derived from PigTRACE hog movement reports.
Statistics Canada typically uses suppression techniques to protect sensitive statistical information. These techniques involve suppressing data points that can directly or indirectly reveal information about a respondent. This can often lead to the suppression of a large number of data points and significantly reduce the amount of available data.
Using RTA, Statistics Canada can identify sensitive estimates and randomly adjust their value rather than suppress them. The size of the adjustment is calculated to protect respondent confidentiality. After adjusting the value, the agency assigns a quality measure (A, B, C, D or E) to the estimate to indicate the degree of confidence that users can have in its accuracy.
For more information on RTA, please refer to the article "Random Tabular Adjustment is here!," available as part of the StatCan Blog.
For the latest information on the Census of Agriculture, visit the Census of Agriculture portal.
For more information on agriculture and food, visit the Agriculture and food statistics portal.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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