February 16, 2007

Canada's hog inventory declines from year ago

Canada's hog inventories as of Jan 1, 2007, totalled 14.3 million hogs, 2.7 percent below the same date last year while up marginally from Oct 1, 2006, per Statistics Canada figures.

Farmers exported hogs to other countries at a record pace, with 6.4 million hogs shipped during the first nine months of 2006, the agency said.

This surpassed the previous record established in 2004.

Overall, three out of five exported animals were younger hogs, called weaners, for feeding in the US. As feeding costs are increasing, the weaner export market remains attractive to Canadian farrowing producers.

Hog slaughter prices weakened in the fall of 2005 and have remained relatively low since. During the first nine months of 2006, the average price for hogs was 14.2 percent lower than the same period in 2005. Lower prices led to a 15.3 percent drop in hog farm cash receipts during the first nine months of 2006.

Domestic slaughter has continued to decline after reaching a record high in 2004, mainly because of lower prices paid to producers and higher feeding costs.

Hog slaughter dropped 2.4 percent between 2005 and 2006.