Canadian cattle producers may be expanding their herds, but they are certainly taking their time in doing so.
A livestock inventory released Thursday by Statistics Canada pegged the total number of cattle on nationwide farms as of Jan. 1, 2016 at 11.96 million, up just 0.3% from the same date a year earlier and still 20% below the BSE-related peak of almost 15 million on Jan. 1, 2005.
In contrast, a USDA cattle inventory report released in late January estimated the total number of cattle in that country as of Jan. 1 at 92 million, up 3% from the previous year and the highest since about 93 million in 2011.
But regardless of how quickly they are moving, cattle producers on this side of the border are still clearly pointed toward expansion. The number of beef heifers held for breeding on Canadian farms was up 4% year-over-year to 547,300 head, the first increase since 2013. Meanwhile, the inventory of calves on Jan. 1 increased 0.9% to 3.8 million, while the number of feeder heifers (-1.2%) and steers (-0.7%) fell from Jan.1, 2015 – evidence that producers are indeed holding animals back from the slaughter line for breeding purposes.
(In the U.S., the number of beef replacement heifers was reported at 6.29 million as of Jan. 1, up 3.3% from a year earlier, while the total number of beef cows, at 30.3 million was up 4% from a year ago).
Although they have declined since, most of the momentum for expansion in the beef sector is coming from the record high prices enjoyed by producers in 2014 and into early 2015. According to a Statistics Canada farm income report released late last year, lower North American supplies pushed cattle and calf prices higher in 2014, contributing to a 44.4% increase in Canadian cattle receipts to almost $8.5 billion.
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