Highest cattle slaughter in 26 years
...by Kevin Hursh
======
The weekly slaughter numbers at Canada's federally and provincially inspected packing plants have exceeded 80,000 head of cattle for the first time since 1978. The statistics were released this week by CanFax, the market analysis division of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association.
CanFax senior market analyst Anne Dunford says slaughter capacity is growing and the numbers will continue to rise in the weeks and months ahead.
"We've seen larger kills week-over-week for some time now as plants have been working longer hours, implementing more shifts and adding extra Saturdays," said Dunford in a news release.
"Up until now, there has been higher usage inside the plants. Now, we're starting to see the results of some expansion coming on stream."
According to Dunford, both Ontario and Quebec will soon have increased cow-kill capacity. More capacity is coming on stream in Alberta and Saskatchewan and a small cow plant in British
Columbia will be operational later this month. A fed cattle plant is also opening in the Maritimes later this month.
"In early 2005, we will see bigger slaughter numbers than we've seen so far and further down the road there will be a major increase with increased capacity at Alberta's Lakeside plant," said Dunford.
Dunford says Canadian beef remains in demand. The challenge for the industry is developing sufficient packing plant capacity to process the beef that used to be exported live.
...by Kevin Hursh
======
The weekly slaughter numbers at Canada's federally and provincially inspected packing plants have exceeded 80,000 head of cattle for the first time since 1978. The statistics were released this week by CanFax, the market analysis division of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association.
CanFax senior market analyst Anne Dunford says slaughter capacity is growing and the numbers will continue to rise in the weeks and months ahead.
"We've seen larger kills week-over-week for some time now as plants have been working longer hours, implementing more shifts and adding extra Saturdays," said Dunford in a news release.
"Up until now, there has been higher usage inside the plants. Now, we're starting to see the results of some expansion coming on stream."
According to Dunford, both Ontario and Quebec will soon have increased cow-kill capacity. More capacity is coming on stream in Alberta and Saskatchewan and a small cow plant in British
Columbia will be operational later this month. A fed cattle plant is also opening in the Maritimes later this month.
"In early 2005, we will see bigger slaughter numbers than we've seen so far and further down the road there will be a major increase with increased capacity at Alberta's Lakeside plant," said Dunford.
Dunford says Canadian beef remains in demand. The challenge for the industry is developing sufficient packing plant capacity to process the beef that used to be exported live.
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