Canadian cattle herd records modest increase

Canada’s cattle herd has recorded a year-over-year increase for the first time since 2021. According to Statistics Canada, total inventories reached 11.9 million head as of July 1, 2025, up 0.8% from the previous year.

The biggest factor in the change is a less challenging year for many producers, according to the factors cited.

Reduced overall drought concerns

The report notes this is the first year-over-year growth following several years of declining herd numbers. However, the decline in previous years was influenced by prolonged drought conditions in many regions.

Snapshot of key factors

Other trends that played a role included:

• Lower slaughter rates: From January to June 2025, cattle slaughter declined by 5 per cent compared with the same period in 2024.
• Retention of breeding stock: More beef and dairy heifers and cows were kept on farms.
• Declines in other categories: Steers and feeder heifers decreased compared with the previous year.

Alberta leads the charge

Source: Statistics Canada

Full breakdown

Digging into the details, the statics show that as of July 1, Canadian cattle producers retained more beef heifers for breeding (+2.0 per cent), bulls (+0.5 percent) and beef cows (+0.4 per cent), while inventories of dairy heifers for breeding (+0.5 per cent) and dairy cows (+0.4 per cent) were also up from the same date the previous year.

Higher breeding stock retention, coupled with a 1.8 per cent year-over-year increase in births from January to June, helped support cattle herd inventories, says the report.

Meanwhile, producers held fewer steers (-1.8 per cent) and feeder heifers (-1.5 per cent) on July 1, compared with the same date one year earlier. Producers also held 3.8 million calves, a 3.0 per cent increase year over year.

For more information, you can access the full Statistics Canada report released in late August.