Source:  Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 4/29/10

Statistics Canada reported the April 1 Canadian breeding hog inventory at 1.3 million head, a 6 percent decline from a year ago and a 2 percent decline from the previous quarter, which one analyst characterized as the fewest breeding hogs in at least a decade.

Canadian inventory of all hogs and pigs on April 1, at 11.6 million head, was down 2 percent from a year ago and down 10 percent from two years ago. Market hog inventory, at 10.3 million head, was down 2 percent from last year and down 2 percent from last quarter. The pig crop, at 7.1 million head, was down 5 percent from 2009 and down 11 percent from 2008. Sows farrowed during this period totaled 715,600 head, down 5 percent from last year and down 11 percent from 2008.

J.P.Morgan analyst Ken Goldman called the report "marginally positive for hog farmers such as Smithfield as it indicates that despite tough comps, Canada continues to cut its herd at an accelerated pace."

The Canadian pig crop is about 25 percent the size of the U.S. crop. The Canadian April 1 data along with USDA's March 1 U.S. hog data indicated a combined inventory of about 75.6 million head, down 3 percent from a year ago.

Click here to view the combined U.S./Canadian report. 

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