060220 Canadian Herd Shrinks After U.S. Resumes Beef Imports

Canada said its cattle herd in 2005 declined for the first time in three years after the U.S. resumed imports of beef, easing a glut that sent prices plunging.

Farms and ranches held 14.83 million head of cattle as of Jan. 1, down 1.5 percent from a record 15.06 million a year earlier, Statistics Canada said today in an e-mailed report from Ottawa. The estimate was based on a survey of 10,000 producers. Supplies are 1.3 million head higher than in 2002, before the discovery of mad-cow disease in May 2003 prompted dozens of nations to ban imports of Canadian cattle and beef.

With exports closed, cattle producers were stuck with record-large herds until the U.S. began importing live animals in July, Statistics Canada said in a report today. The U.S. is the biggest buyer of Canadian cattle.

The Canada herd declined even as the country's slaughter increased 1 percent in 2005 after rising 28 percent in 2004 from 2003. The price of slaughter cattle during the last quarter was 20 percent higher than the same period a year earlier, the government said.

Hog farmers cut live animal inventories 1.2 percent to 14.5 million head on Jan. 1 from 2004, and the herd was down 2.8 percent from three months earlier, the government said. Hog exports, mostly to U.S. farms and processing plants, fell 3.4 percent in 2005 compared with sales in 2004.

The number of sheep in Canada fell 6.2 percent to 919,000 head on Jan. 1 compared with 980,000 a year earlier, Statistics Canada said.

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