the growth of intensive livestock production in Canada
In April 2003, Statistics Canada published a report, The expansion of livestock farms between 1991 and 2001, which showed that despite the biggest decline in the number of farms in 30 years, Canadian farmers were raising more cattle, hogs and poultry than ever before. The report said that the number of larger livestock operations was on the rise, and the number of animals on larger operations was soaring.
This trend has continued. The 2006 Census of Agriculture found that Canada has 20 per cent fewer cattle farms than it did in 2001, although the average number of cattle and calves is up 13 per cent to 144 per farm. As well, the number of pig farmers has dropped by more than a quarter, although the size of the average operation has grown a whopping 45 per cent, from 902 pigs to 1,308.
