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Combined U.S., Canada cattle, hog herds up on year

The USDA says the combined U.S. and Canadian livestock numbers show continued U.S. expansion of the cattle and hog herds cancelling out lower numbers for Canada.

The combined hog inventory at the end of December was up 1% at 88.58 million head, with a 2% rise in the U.S. to 74.55 million making up for a 1% decline in Canada at 14.030 million head, and the combined cattle herd was slightly higher at 106.21 million head, with a modest increase in the U.S. to 94.76 million against a 1% decrease in Canada at 11.45 million head. Most of the major U.S. cattle and hog categories were up on the year, while most of the major categories for Canada were down.

The USDA says the combined U.S. and Canadian dairy cow herd at the start of 2019 was 10.3 million head, down 1% on the year, reflecting the financial difficulties being experienced by producers in both nations. That’s with a 1% decline in the U.S. to 9.4 million head cancelling out a 1% rise in Canada at 980,000 head. U.S. milk replacement heifers were 1% lower at 4.7 million head, while the inventory in Canada unchanged at 432,000 head.

The joint sheep and lamb herd was down slightly at 6.072 million head, with the U.S. inventory 1% lower at 5.23 million, mostly cancelling out a 2% gain in Canada to 842,300 head. The next set of combined livestock numbers from the USDA and Statistics Canada is out in August.