Canadian farmers reported a cattle and calf inventory of 15.2 million head, a decline of 4.3% from last year and continuing the downward trend that started in 2006. The beef herd and the dairy herd declined by 4.8% and 1.2% respectively.

The beef cow inventory was down 4.7% and the number of calves born decreased 4.8% from a year ago, despite an improving calving rate since the bovine spongiform encephalopathy crisis in 2003.

With the increase in coarse grain prices, the number of cattle on feeding operations has declined 12.3% since last summer. Over the past two years, the number of farms reporting cattle and calves has stabilized around 107,000 operations, following a loss of 8,500 cattle farms during the previous three years.

There are no signs of herd rebuilding as beef heifers for breeding replacement were down 2.0% from the same time last year.