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The Beef Information Centre has published a brief fact sheet on the industry. As of January of this year, 40 per cent of the country’s beef cow herd was located in Alberta, with 30 per cent in Saskatchewan. The next biggest province for beef cows was Manitoba at 12 per cent. Ontario had seven per cent. B.C. and Quebec were tied with 5 per cent of the national herd and only one per cent of the country’s beef cows were in the Atlantic Provinces. Looking at where the fed cattle come from, the dominance of Alberta’s feedlot sector becomes obvious. Over 65 per cent of the fed cattle come out of Alberta, with Ontario at over 21 per cent. Saskatchewan, Manitoba and B.C. combined account for just under nine per cent of the total fed cattle. In 2008, Canada exported 1.8 billion pounds of beef and cattle, while we imported 383 million pounds. On a net basis, subtracting out the imports, Canada exported 37 per cent of its beef and cattle production in 2008. Beef consumption by Canadians was down to 47.2 pounds per person last year, a drop of 4.4 per cent from the previous year. When you look at the numbers, the importance of the export market becomes clear. I’m Kevin Hursh.

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Kevin Hursh PAg CAC