August 20, 2010

Canadian hog inventory shows decrease

Canada's hog inventories as of July 1, 2010, totalled 11.8 million head, down 2.4% from the previous year, according to Statistics Canada.

The year-on-year hog inventories in Canada have continued to decline since 2006, but the pace was slowing. The declines in the first and second quarters of the current year were said to be the lowest since April 2007.

On a provincial basis, both Manitoba and Quebec reported on-year inventory increases of 3% and 1.4% respectively. StatsCan said the increases in those provinces were reflective of changes in hog slaughter and international exports, and were not an indication that the industry is expanding. Inventories were down by 19.6% in British Columbia, 2.3% in Alberta, 9.1% in Saskatchewan, 8.7% in Ontario, and 12% in the Atlantic region.

Farmers reported 1.3 million sows and gilts on farms as of July 1, 2010, down 4.8% from the previous year and 9.4% below levels as of July 1, 2008. The number of sows expected to farrow in Canada during the third and fourth quarters in 2010 decreased 5.7% and 5.5% from the same periods in 2009, said StatsCan.

Hogs that were sent to slaughter totalled 5.1 million during the second quarter of 2010, down 0.8% from the same period in 2009. Canadian hog slaughter peaked in the fourth quarter of 2004 at just over six million head, said StatsCan.

During the second quarter 2010, total hog exports amounted to 1.4 million head, down 14.1% from the same quarter in 2009. Second-quarter exports were 52.3% below the peak of 2.9 million head recorded in the first quarter of 2008, said StatsCan.

As of July 1, 2010, there were 7,050 hog farms in Canada, down 10.6% from the same date in 2009. The average number of hogs per operation increased from 1,529 to 1,671 in the same period.