Saskatchewan has bucked a national trend to lower cattle numbers.
When this year started the provincial cattle herd of 2.24 million had increased by just under one per cent, according to the annual Statistics Canada cattle inventory.
Across Canada, cattle population dropped one per cent to 11.45 million.
Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, and the Atlantic provinces registered increases in cattle numbers.
Ontario was up less than two-thirds of one per cent to 1.595 million while Quebec herds increased 5,000 head to 1.125 million.
The Atlantic provinces’ herd increased by less than 2,000 head to 220,000. British Columbia’s herd was up 5,000 to 610,000.
Drought-stricken Alberta, with the largest cattle herd in Canada, saw a reduction of 2.2 per cent to 4.46 million head.
Manitoba’s cattle herd fell 3.9 per cent to 1.02 million.
The Canadian cattle herd has decreased 23 per cent since 2005.
Canadian hog inventories fell one per cent to just over 14 million, a reduction more than matched in Saskatchewan with a 1.5 per cent drop to one million.
The largest hog population – in Quebec – fell one per cent to 4.39 million.
Canadian sheep numbers were up two per cent to 842,000 with the Saskatchewan herd decreasing 1,000 to 85,000.
Ontario, with the most sheep at 255,000, increased numbers by 5.4 per cent.
Ron Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
