Inventories of hogs in Canada fell for the second quarter in a row on softening slaughter prices and escalating feed costs, even while international demand for Canadian hogs and pork remains high, Statistics Canada reported Thursday.
Canada had 14.4 million hogs on farms as of October 1, down 3.1 per cent from the year-earlier date and 1.7 per cent from the second quarter of 2007, the agency said.
The most significant drops, percentage-wise, came in Alberta (down 6.1 per cent to 1.91 million head, particularly in market hogs over 20 kg, down nine per cent) and Atlantic Canada (down 11 per cent to 290,000 head, including a 15.3 per cent drop in market hogs under 20 kg). Down 1.4 per cent overall at 2.91 million head, Manitoba posted a 19.3 per cent increase in small market hogs, offset by a 13.6 per cent drop in hogs 20 kg and over.
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The stronger dollar contributed to softer hog prices, which have improved “modestly” in recent months (up 4.6 per cent from the same period in 2006) but are still well below those at the same time in 2005 (specifically, 11.6 per cent below the 2005 average).
StatsCan noted a “record pace” of hog exports, mainly to the U.S. Canadian hog farmers shipped 7.2 million animals out of the country in the first nine months of 2007, beating the previous record in 2006. The weaner export market in the U.S., to which Canada’s smaller hogs are fed and shipped to market, remains a draw for Canadian farrowing producers.
Those record exports and recent stronger prices helped push hog farm cash receipts up 7.8 per cent to $1.8 billion in the first half of 2007, compared to the year-earlier period.
StatsCan also noted the shrinking domestic hog slaughter capacity, as domestic slaughter dropped 2.9 per cent in the first three quarters of 2007 compared to the year-earlier period. Slaughter levels have declined since 2004, when the domestic kill peaked at 22.9 million head, the agency said.
