International bacon day is a great time to review Canadian hog industry stats

Sep 05, 2024
By Jean-Paul McDonald
Assistant Editor, North American Content, Farms.com

Canadian bacon - a growing industry?

International Bacon Day on Saturday, September 7, is a perfect occasion to appreciate the crispy, savory delight that is bacon.

As of July 1, 2024, Canadian hog farmers reported a total of nearly 14 million hogs on their farms. With ample time to grow, these hogs could yield up to 220.4 million packages of bacon, each weighing 500 grams.

The landscape of hog farming in Canada has shifted significantly over the years. The number of farms raising pigs has decreased by 11.7% from 2016 to 2021, bringing the total to 7,423. This is a stark drop from over 15,000 farms at the turn of the millennium in 2001.

Despite the decrease in the number of farms, the average herd size has increased, with the 2021 average reaching 1,963 pigs—more than double the herd size in 2001.

Moreover, the weight of pigs at processing time has also risen, from an average of 107.4 kilograms in 2022 to 111.2 kilograms as of July 2024.

Most of Canada's hogs are concentrated in Quebec, Ontario, and Manitoba. Quebec leads with 4.3 million pigs, a slight increase from the previous year. Ontario follows with 3.7 million, and Manitoba's herd grew to 3.5 million. Together, these provinces make up over 81% of Canada's total hog population.

Bacon prices have seen significant inflation, with a 9.8% increase year-over-year in July 2024 and a 25.7% rise compared to July 2019. On the export front, Canadian bacon is highly sought after abroad.

In 2023, Canada exported 18.6 million kilograms of cured side bacon, predominantly to the U.S., which also imported 202,165 kilograms of back bacon, mostly going to California.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.