The contraction of the Canadian swine herd persists into 2024. Despite higher-than-expected sow productivity in 2023, larger slaughter and export figures have led to a decrease of 140,000 head in the beginning hog inventory compared to the previous year. To put this into perspective, the Canadian swine herd had already shrunk by 265,000 head between January 2022 and January 2023. In another indication of this trend, the beginning sow stocks display a two percent reduction in the sow herd at the start of 2024, marking the lowest January 1 sow numbers since 2015. Additionally, there has been a two percent decline in the number of farms reporting hogs compared to January 1, 2023, suggesting a continued exodus of producers from the industry. This ongoing consolidation is further underscored by a slight increase in the average number of animals on remaining operations.
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