Though cattle prices are at record highs and there is strong demand for beef, producers have not responded with herd expansion. Ann Boyda, Alberta livestock market analyst, says the proportion of female cattle slaughter relative to total cattle slaughter has increased, making it more difficult to rebuild the herd.
Over the last decade, Western Canada female slaughter represented 47.7 per cent of the total cattle slaughtered. The 10-year average share of heifer to total cattle slaughter was 32.7 per cent. Year-to-date (January to the end of October) female cattle slaughter estimates are at 49 per cent, with heifers representing 34.3 per cent of the total.
