Highlights

As of 1 April 2011, Canadian hog producers reported 11.8 million hogs on farm, up 1.4 per cent from the same date in 2010.

Sows inventory remained virtually unchanged from 1 April 2010, at 1.3 million head. Farmers anticipated no significant changes in the number of sows expected to farrow during the second and third quarters of 2011.

Canadian hog exports totalled 1.4 million in the first quarter of 2011, down 3.6 per cent from the same period last year.

During the first quarter of 2011, approximately 5.5 million hogs were slaughtered in Canada, a decline of 2.8 per cent from a year earlier.

Analysis

As of 1 April 2011, Canadian farmers had an estimated 11.8 million hogs on their farms, up 1.4 per cent from the same date in 2010, despite a 3.5 per cent reduction in the number of hog operations. The inventory level was, however, down 0.7 per cent from 1 January 2011.

Hog inventories were up in all major hog-producing provinces except in Quebec and Alberta, where the inventories were slightly down by 0.5 and 0.7 per cent, respectively, from the same quarter in 2010.

Table 1. Hog inventories on 1 April and 1 January, Canada and provinces, 2010 to 2011

The hog breeding herd appears to have stabilised after a steady decline that began in the second quarter of 2007 and continued up to the first quarter of 2010. As of 1 April 2011, sows inventory remained virtually unchanged at 1.3 million head, down only 0.2 per cent from a year earlier, and down 5.1 per cent from the same date in 2009. In addition, farmers anticipated no significant changes in the number of sows expected to farrow during the second and third quarters of 2011.

Figure 1. Sows inventory, Canada, 1 April 2006 to 1 April 2011
(thousands of head)

During the first quarter of 2011, approximately 5.5 million hogs were slaughtered in Canada, a decline of 2.8 per cent from a year earlier. Slaughter in the Eastern provinces decreased by 3.3 per cent, while that in the Western provinces went down by 2.0 per cent.

An estimated 1.4 million hogs were exported during the quarter, down 3.6 per cent from the same period in 2010. Exports by the Western provinces, which accounts for about three quarters of the total Canadian hog exports, went down by 7.4 per cent. Exports by the Eastern provinces, however, increased by 8.7 per cent.

Figure 2. Hog exports, Canada, 1 April 2006 to 1 April 20111
(thousands of head)

Further Reading

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