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Section 2 - Agricultural perspectives from seven censuses, Canada and provinces: census years 1976 to 2006

Canada

Newfoundland and Labrador

Canada

Table 2.12
Cattle and calves, Canada and provinces, census years 1976 to 2006
Canada	1976	1981	1986	1991	1996	2001	2006	1976 to 2006	1981 to 2006	1986 to 2006	1991 to 2006	1996 to 2006	2001 to 2006
Canada	Empty cell							percentage change
Total cattle and calves	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	15,131,722	13,501,904	11,997,608	12,972,038	14,893,034	15,551,449	15,773,527	4.2	16.8	31.5	21.6	5.9	1.4
Farms reporting	225,253	185,073	155,945	145,747	142,157	122,066	109,901	-51.2	-40.6	-29.5	-24.6	-22.7	-10.0
Percentage of total farms	66.5	58.1	53.2	52.0	51.4	49.4	47.9	-28.0	-17.6	-10.0	-7.9	-6.8	-3.0
Average number per farm reporting	67	73	77	89	105	127	144	114.9	97.3	87.0	61.8	37.1	13.4
Dairy cows^1,2	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	1,993,427	1,772,350	1,456,463	1,315,178	1,227,732	1,060,965	996,024	-50.0	-43.8	-31.6	-24.3	-18.9	-6.1
Farms reporting	96,909	67,899	50,037	39,077	30,926	21,911	17,515	-81.9	-74.2	-65.0	-55.2	-43.4	-20.1
Percentage of total farms	28.6	21.3	17.1	14.0	11.2	8.9	7.6	-73.4	-64.3	-55.6	-45.7	-32.1	-14.6
Average number per farm reporting	21	26	29	34	40	48	57	171.4	119.2	96.6	67.6	42.5	18.8
Beef cows^1,2	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	4,344,912	3,517,286	3,242,041	3,828,630	4,680,585	4,802,400	5,081,596	17.0	44.5	56.7	32.7	8.6	5.8
Farms reporting	163,863	114,141	99,921	100,820	103,673	90,066	83,000	-49.3	-27.3	-16.9	-17.7	-19.9	-7.8
Percentage of total farms	48.4	35.9	34.1	36.0	37.5	36.5	36.2	-25.2	0.8	6.2	0.6	-3.5	-0.8
Average number per farm reporting	27	31	32	38	45	53	61	125.9	96.8	90.6	60.5	35.6	15.1
Total heifers	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	2,203,796	2,278,407	2,093,220	2,139,404	2,285,988	2,492,996	2,471,216	12.1	8.5	18.1	15.5	8.1	-0.9
Farms reporting	170,097	140,285	116,404	104,120	100,930	83,914	72,929	-57.1	-48.0	-37.3	-30.0	-27.7	-13.1
Percentage of total farms	50.2	44.1	39.7	37.2	36.5	34.0	31.8	-36.7	-27.9	-19.9	-14.5	-12.9	-6.5
Average number per farm reporting	13	16	18	21	23	30	34	161.5	112.5	88.9	61.9	47.8	13.3
Bulls 1 year and over	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	285,076	267,544	217,102	240,408	290,975	260,218	268,715	-5.7	0.4	23.8	11.8	-7.7	3.3
Farms reporting	132,494	112,563	91,999	92,379	93,597	78,816	71,958	-45.7	-36.1	-21.8	-22.1	-23.1	-8.7
Percentage of total farms	39.1	35.4	31.4	33.0	33.8	31.9	31.4	-19.7	-11.3	0.0	-4.8	-7.1	-1.6
Average number per farm reporting	2	2	2	3	3	3	4	100.0	100.0	100.0	33.3	33.3	33.3
Steers 1 year and over	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	2,342,240	1,768,015	1,385,756	1,358,777	1,734,113	1,731,100	1,783,913	-23.8	0.9	28.7	31.3	2.9	3.1
Farms reporting	121,959	77,728	59,514	43,163	51,674	32,884	36,695	-69.9	-52.8	-38.3	-15.0	-29.0	11.6
Percentage of total farms	36.0	24.4	20.3	15.4	18.7	13.3	16.0	-55.6	-34.4	-21.2	3.9	-14.4	20.3
Average number per farm reporting	19	23	23	31	34	53	49	157.9	113.0	113.0	58.1	44.1	-7.5
Calves under 1 year	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	3,962,271	3,898,302	3,603,026	4,089,641	4,673,641	5,203,770	5,172,063	30.5	32.7	43.5	26.5	10.7	-0.6
Farms reporting	192,223	160,058	135,222	127,865	125,173	110,397	98,107	-49.0	-38.7	-27.4	-23.3	-21.6	-11.1
Percentage of total farms	56.8	50.3	46.1	45.7	45.3	44.7	42.8	-24.6	-14.9	-7.2	-6.3	-5.5	-4.3
Average number per farm reporting	21	24	27	32	37	47	53	152.4	120.8	96.3	65.6	43.2	12.8
Symbols x suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act 0 true zero or a value rounded to zero xxfor confidentiality reasons, data have been combined with those of the preceding size class .. not available for a specific reference period ...not applicable Notes Comparability among censuses prior to 1996 and those after is affected by a change in census date from the first week of June to mid-May when a lower percentage of calvings would have occurred. In 1976, the number of "Beef cows" was obtained by subtracting "Cows milking or to be milked" from "Total cows." As a result, the size of the dairy herd was understated and the size of the beef herd was overstated because dairy farmers did not always report dry dairy cows under "Cows milking or to be milked." Since 1981, when a separate question on the number of "beef cows" was introduced, the reporting of both dairy and beef cows has improved. Due to response errors in 1996, the number of "Dairy cows" and the number of farms reporting dairy cows may have been overstated, whereas the number of "Beef cows" and the number of farms reporting beef cows may have been understated. The total number of cattle and calves, however, was not affected. These errors limit the comparability of the data between 1996 and the other census years. Response errors were more prevalent in provinces with a low proportion of dairy operations. Source Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture.

Newfoundland and Labrador

Table 2.12
Cattle and calves, Canada and provinces, census years 1976 to 2006
Newfoundland and Labrador	1976	1981	1986	1991	1996	2001	2006	1976 to 2006	1981 to 2006	1986 to 2006	1991 to 2006	1996 to 2006	2001 to 2006
Newfoundland and Labrador	Empty cell							percentage change
Total cattle and calves	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	7,061	6,963	7,717	8,446	8,252	9,483	11,826	67.5	69.8	53.2	40.0	43.3	24.7
Farms reporting	440	326	291	234	202	171	133	-69.8	-59.2	-54.3	-43.2	-34.2	-22.2
Percentage of total farms	50.1	48.0	44.7	32.3	27.2	26.6	23.8	-52.5	-50.4	-46.8	-26.3	-12.5	-10.5
Average number per farm reporting	16	21	27	36	41	55	89	456.3	323.8	229.6	147.2	117.1	61.8
Dairy cows^1,2	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	2,459	2,660	3,557	4,825	4,443	4,708	6,259	154.5	135.3	76.0	29.7	40.9	32.9
Farms reporting	194	129	109	93	76	63	42	-78.4	-67.4	-61.5	-54.8	-44.7	-33.3
Percentage of total farms	22.1	19.0	16.7	12.8	10.2	9.8	7.5	-66.1	-60.5	-55.1	-41.4	-26.5	-23.5
Average number per farm reporting	13	21	33	52	58	75	149	1,046.2	609.5	351.5	186.5	156.9	98.7
Beef cows^1,2	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	1,586	979	1,065	661	732	649	761	-52.0	-22.3	-28.5	15.1	4.0	17.3
Farms reporting	272	184	162	111	97	63	70	-74.3	-62.0	-56.8	-36.9	-27.8	11.1
Percentage of total farms	31.0	27.1	24.9	15.3	13.1	9.8	12.5	-59.7	-53.9	-49.8	-18.3	-4.6	27.6
Average number per farm reporting	6	5	7	6	8	10	11	83.3	120.0	57.1	83.3	37.5	10.0
Total heifers	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	896	1,229	1,107	1,305	1,116	1,804	2,296	156.3	86.8	107.4	75.9	105.7	27.3
Farms reporting	248	209	178	131	118	115	88	-64.5	-57.9	-50.6	-32.8	-25.4	-23.5
Percentage of total farms	28.2	30.8	27.3	18.1	15.9	17.9	15.8	-44.0	-48.7	-42.1	-12.7	-0.6	-11.7
Average number per farm reporting	4	6	6	10	9	16	26	550.0	333.3	333.3	160.0	188.9	62.5
Bulls 1 year and over	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	249	242	221	168	192	145	91	-63.5	-62.4	-58.8	-45.8	-52.6	-37.2
Farms reporting	153	142	143	104	117	86	58	-62.1	-59.2	-59.4	-44.2	-50.4	-32.6
Percentage of total farms	17.4	20.9	22.0	14.3	15.8	13.4	10.4	-40.2	-50.2	-52.7	-27.3	-34.2	-22.4
Average number per farm reporting	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Steers 1 year and over	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	253	224	218	125	138	160	146	-42.3	-34.8	-33.0	16.8	5.8	-8.8
Farms reporting	83	63	57	30	33	41	29	-65.1	-54.0	-49.1	-3.3	-12.1	-29.3
Percentage of total farms	9.5	9.3	8.8	4.1	4.4	6.4	5.2	-45.3	-44.1	-40.9	26.8	18.2	-18.8
Average number per farm reporting	3	4	4	4	4	4	5	66.7	25.0	25.0	25.0	25.0	25.0
Calves under 1 year	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	1,618	1,629	1,549	1,362	1,631	2,017	2,273	40.5	39.5	46.7	66.9	39.4	12.7
Farms reporting	345	278	245	185	164	139	115	-66.7	-58.6	-53.1	-37.8	-29.9	-17.3
Percentage of total farms	39.3	40.9	37.6	25.5	22.1	21.6	20.6	-47.6	-49.6	-45.2	-19.2	-6.8	-4.6
Average number per farm reporting	5	6	6	7	10	15	20	300.0	233.3	233.3	185.7	100.0	33.3
Symbols x suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act 0 true zero or a value rounded to zero xxfor confidentiality reasons, data have been combined with those of the preceding size class .. not available for a specific reference period ...not applicable Notes Comparability among censuses prior to 1996 and those after is affected by a change in census date from the first week of June to mid-May when a lower percentage of calvings would have occurred. In 1976, the number of "Beef cows" was obtained by subtracting "Cows milking or to be milked" from "Total cows." As a result, the size of the dairy herd was understated and the size of the beef herd was overstated because dairy farmers did not always report dry dairy cows under "Cows milking or to be milked." Since 1981, when a separate question on the number of "beef cows" was introduced, the reporting of both dairy and beef cows has improved. Due to response errors in 1996, the number of "Dairy cows" and the number of farms reporting dairy cows may have been overstated, whereas the number of "Beef cows" and the number of farms reporting beef cows may have been understated. The total number of cattle and calves, however, was not affected. These errors limit the comparability of the data between 1996 and the other census years. Response errors were more prevalent in provinces with a low proportion of dairy operations. Source Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture.

Prince Edward Island

Table 2.12
Cattle and calves, Canada and provinces, census years 1976 to 2006
Prince Edward Island	1976	1981	1986	1991	1996	2001	2006	1976 to 2006	1981 to 2006	1986 to 2006	1991 to 2006	1996 to 2006	2001 to 2006
Prince Edward Island	Empty cell							percentage change
Total cattle and calves	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	110,396	102,454	100,373	94,573	94,611	84,791	86,435	-21.7	-15.6	-13.9	-8.6	-8.6	1.9
Farms reporting	2,921	2,310	1,954	1,610	1,384	1,072	923	-68.4	-60.0	-52.8	-42.7	-33.3	-13.9
Percentage of total farms	79.4	73.2	69.0	68.2	62.4	58.1	54.3	-31.6	-25.8	-21.3	-20.4	-13.0	-6.5
Average number per farm reporting	38	44	51	59	68	79	94	147.4	113.6	84.3	59.3	38.2	19.0
Dairy cows^1,2	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	25,611	24,106	21,805	18,318	16,353	14,623	13,097	-48.9	-45.7	-39.9	-28.5	-19.9	-10.4
Farms reporting	1,732	1,176	877	649	482	359	254	-85.3	-78.4	-71.0	-60.9	-47.3	-29.2
Percentage of total farms	47.1	37.3	31.0	27.5	21.7	19.5	14.9	-68.4	-60.1	-51.9	-45.8	-31.3	-23.6
Average number per farm reporting	15	20	25	28	34	41	52	246.7	160.0	108.0	85.7	52.9	26.8
Beef cows^1,2	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	14,673	11,038	11,289	12,977	16,472	13,251	16,107	9.8	45.9	42.7	24.1	-2.2	21.6
Farms reporting	1,615	997	873	780	784	559	550	-65.9	-44.8	-37.0	-29.5	-29.8	-1.6
Percentage of total farms	43.9	31.6	30.8	33.0	35.4	30.3	32.4	-26.2	2.5	5.2	-1.8	-8.5	6.9
Average number per farm reporting	9	11	13	17	21	24	29	222.2	163.6	123.1	70.6	38.1	20.8
Total heifers	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	18,234	19,990	21,857	20,328	15,804	19,257	19,695	8.0	-1.5	-9.9	-3.1	24.6	2.3
Farms reporting	2,360	1,880	1,552	1,213	1,023	843	696	-70.5	-63.0	-55.2	-42.6	-32.0	-17.4
Percentage of total farms	64.2	59.6	54.8	51.4	46.1	45.7	40.9	-36.3	-31.4	-25.4	-20.4	-11.3	-10.5
Average number per farm reporting	8	11	14	17	15	23	28	250.0	154.5	100.0	64.7	86.7	21.7
Bulls 1 year and over	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	1,954	1,374	1,275	1,205	1,163	774	793	-59.4	-42.3	-37.8	-34.2	-31.8	2.5
Farms reporting	1,046	856	827	699	686	488	477	-54.4	-44.3	-42.3	-31.8	-30.5	-2.3
Percentage of total farms	28.4	27.1	29.2	29.6	30.9	26.4	28.1	-1.1	3.7	-3.8	-5.1	-9.1	6.4
Average number per farm reporting	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Steers 1 year and over	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	24,674	19,550	19,352	17,779	20,350	16,758	15,474	-37.3	-20.8	-20.0	-13.0	-24.0	-7.7
Farms reporting	2,048	1,431	1,155	785	787	525	434	-78.8	-69.7	-62.4	-44.7	-44.9	-17.3
Percentage of total farms	55.7	45.4	40.8	33.2	35.5	28.5	25.5	-54.2	-43.8	-37.5	-23.2	-28.2	-10.5
Average number per farm reporting	12	14	17	23	26	32	36	200.0	157.1	111.8	56.5	38.5	12.5
Calves under 1 year	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	25,250	26,396	24,795	23,966	24,469	20,128	21,269	-15.8	-19.4	-14.2	-11.3	-13.1	5.7
Farms reporting	2,427	1,986	1,644	1,343	1,182	925	803	-66.9	-59.6	-51.2	-40.2	-32.1	-13.2
Percentage of total farms	66.0	63.0	58.0	56.9	53.3	50.1	47.2	-28.5	-25.1	-18.6	-17.0	-11.4	-5.8
Average number per farm reporting	10	13	15	18	21	22	26	160.0	100.0	73.3	44.4	23.8	18.2
Symbols x suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act 0 true zero or a value rounded to zero xxfor confidentiality reasons, data have been combined with those of the preceding size class .. not available for a specific reference period ...not applicable Notes Comparability among censuses prior to 1996 and those after is affected by a change in census date from the first week of June to mid-May when a lower percentage of calvings would have occurred. In 1976, the number of "Beef cows" was obtained by subtracting "Cows milking or to be milked" from "Total cows." As a result, the size of the dairy herd was understated and the size of the beef herd was overstated because dairy farmers did not always report dry dairy cows under "Cows milking or to be milked." Since 1981, when a separate question on the number of "beef cows" was introduced, the reporting of both dairy and beef cows has improved. Due to response errors in 1996, the number of "Dairy cows" and the number of farms reporting dairy cows may have been overstated, whereas the number of "Beef cows" and the number of farms reporting beef cows may have been understated. The total number of cattle and calves, however, was not affected. These errors limit the comparability of the data between 1996 and the other census years. Response errors were more prevalent in provinces with a low proportion of dairy operations. Source Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture.

Nova Scotia

Table 2.12
Cattle and calves, Canada and provinces, census years 1976 to 2006
Nova Scotia	1976	1981	1986	1991	1996	2001	2006	1976 to 2006	1981 to 2006	1986 to 2006	1991 to 2006	1996 to 2006	2001 to 2006
Nova Scotia	Empty cell							percentage change
Total cattle and calves	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	137,164	140,209	132,624	128,619	128,971	108,401	103,687	-24.4	-26.0	-21.8	-19.4	-19.6	-4.3
Farms reporting	3,947	3,439	2,687	2,329	2,123	1,705	1,556	-60.6	-54.8	-42.1	-33.2	-26.7	-8.7
Percentage of total farms	72.6	68.2	62.7	58.5	47.7	43.5	41.0	-43.5	-39.9	-34.6	-29.9	-14.0	-5.7
Average number per farm reporting	35	41	49	55	61	64	67	91.4	63.4	36.7	21.8	9.8	4.7
Dairy cows^1,2	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	38,582	36,237	34,122	28,913	26,623	23,918	21,791	-43.5	-39.9	-36.1	-24.6	-18.1	-8.9
Farms reporting	1,999	1,427	1,031	818	619	443	346	-82.7	-75.8	-66.4	-57.7	-44.1	-21.9
Percentage of total farms	36.8	28.3	24.1	20.6	13.9	11.3	9.1	-75.3	-67.8	-62.2	-55.8	-34.5	-19.5
Average number per farm reporting	19	25	33	35	43	54	63	231.6	152.0	90.9	80.0	46.5	16.7
Beef cows^1,2	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	28,379	24,072	23,177	27,629	32,068	26,500	25,925	-8.6	7.7	11.9	-6.2	-19.2	-2.2
Farms reporting	2,518	2,025	1,631	1,559	1,520	1,205	1,132	-55.0	-44.1	-30.6	-27.4	-25.5	-6.1
Percentage of total farms	46.3	40.1	38.1	39.2	34.1	30.7	29.8	-35.6	-25.7	-21.8	-24.0	-12.6	-2.9
Average number per farm reporting	11	12	14	18	21	22	23	109.1	91.7	64.3	27.8	9.5	4.5
Total heifers	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	22,601	30,421	29,298	27,086	23,093	20,169	20,124	-11.0	-33.8	-31.3	-25.7	-12.9	-0.2
Farms reporting	3,006	2,787	2,191	1,866	1,672	1,331	1,161	-61.4	-58.3	-47.0	-37.8	-30.6	-12.8
Percentage of total farms	55.3	55.2	51.2	46.9	37.5	33.9	30.6	-44.7	-44.6	-40.2	-34.8	-18.4	-9.7
Average number per farm reporting	8	11	13	15	14	15	17	112.5	54.5	30.8	13.3	21.4	13.3
Bulls 1 year and over	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	2,398	2,180	1,896	1,846	1,984	1,545	1,535	-36.0	-29.6	-19.0	-16.8	-22.6	-0.6
Farms reporting	1,653	1,629	1,332	1,307	1,305	1,001	942	-43.0	-42.2	-29.3	-27.9	-27.8	-5.9
Percentage of total farms	30.4	32.3	31.1	32.8	29.3	25.5	24.8	-18.4	-23.2	-20.3	-24.4	-15.4	-2.7
Average number per farm reporting	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0
Steers 1 year and over	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	15,073	12,481	10,255	9,195	9,684	5,633	5,563	-63.1	-55.4	-45.8	-39.5	-42.6	-1.2
Farms reporting	2,062	1,644	1,239	878	933	550	591	-71.3	-64.1	-52.3	-32.7	-36.7	7.5
Percentage of total farms	37.9	32.6	28.9	22.1	21.0	14.0	15.6	-58.8	-52.1	-46.0	-29.4	-25.7	11.4
Average number per farm reporting	7	8	8	10	10	10	9	28.6	12.5	12.5	-10.0	-10.0	-10.0
Calves under 1 year	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	30,131	34,818	33,876	33,950	35,519	30,636	28,749	-4.6	-17.4	-15.1	-15.3	-19.1	-6.2
Farms reporting	3,232	2,955	2,328	2,075	1,924	1,563	1,402	-56.6	-52.6	-39.8	-32.4	-27.1	-10.3
Percentage of total farms	59.5	58.6	54.4	52.1	43.2	39.8	36.9	-38.0	-37.0	-32.2	-29.2	-14.6	-7.3
Average number per farm reporting	9	12	15	16	18	20	21	133.3	75.0	40.0	31.3	16.7	5.0
Symbols x suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act 0 true zero or a value rounded to zero xxfor confidentiality reasons, data have been combined with those of the preceding size class .. not available for a specific reference period ...not applicable Notes Comparability among censuses prior to 1996 and those after is affected by a change in census date from the first week of June to mid-May when a lower percentage of calvings would have occurred. In 1976, the number of "Beef cows" was obtained by subtracting "Cows milking or to be milked" from "Total cows." As a result, the size of the dairy herd was understated and the size of the beef herd was overstated because dairy farmers did not always report dry dairy cows under "Cows milking or to be milked." Since 1981, when a separate question on the number of "beef cows" was introduced, the reporting of both dairy and beef cows has improved. Due to response errors in 1996, the number of "Dairy cows" and the number of farms reporting dairy cows may have been overstated, whereas the number of "Beef cows" and the number of farms reporting beef cows may have been understated. The total number of cattle and calves, however, was not affected. These errors limit the comparability of the data between 1996 and the other census years. Response errors were more prevalent in provinces with a low proportion of dairy operations. Source Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture.

New Brunswick

Table 2.12
Cattle and calves, Canada and provinces, census years 1976 to 2006
New Brunswick	1976	1981	1986	1991	1996	2001	2006	1976 to 2006	1981 to 2006	1986 to 2006	1991 to 2006	1996 to 2006	2001 to 2006
New Brunswick	Empty cell							percentage change
Total cattle and calves	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	121,088	110,942	107,131	105,137	100,297	91,176	89,191	-26.3	-19.6	-16.7	-15.2	-11.1	-2.2
Farms reporting	3,303	2,733	2,216	1,926	1,736	1,421	1,262	-61.8	-53.8	-43.1	-34.5	-27.3	-11.2
Percentage of total farms	72.6	67.3	62.4	59.2	51.0	46.8	45.5	-37.3	-32.4	-27.1	-23.1	-10.8	-2.8
Average number per farm reporting	37	41	48	55	58	64	71	91.9	73.2	47.9	29.1	22.4	10.9
Dairy cows^1,2	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	30,510	28,050	26,740	23,330	21,265	18,978	18,814	-38.3	-32.9	-29.6	-19.4	-11.5	-0.9
Farms reporting	1,702	1,264	879	637	496	369	303	-82.2	-76.0	-65.5	-52.4	-38.9	-17.9
Percentage of total farms	37.4	31.1	24.7	19.6	14.6	12.2	10.9	-70.9	-65.0	-55.9	-44.4	-25.3	-10.7
Average number per farm reporting	18	22	30	37	43	51	62	244.4	181.8	106.7	67.6	44.2	21.6
Beef cows^1,2	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	27,625	19,454	19,335	22,267	22,881	20,397	22,248	-19.5	14.4	15.1	-0.1	-2.8	9.1
Farms reporting	2,219	1,586	1,384	1,297	1,235	979	909	-59.0	-42.7	-34.3	-29.9	-26.4	-7.2
Percentage of total farms	48.8	39.0	38.9	39.9	36.3	32.3	32.7	-33.0	-16.2	-15.9	-18.0	-9.9	1.2
Average number per farm reporting	12	12	14	17	19	21	24	100.0	100.0	71.4	41.2	26.3	14.3
Total heifers	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	19,609	21,480	21,273	23,523	17,506	18,435	16,242	-17.2	-24.4	-23.6	-31.0	-7.2	-11.9
Farms reporting	2,546	2,208	1,802	1,547	1,360	1,078	906	-64.4	-59.0	-49.7	-41.4	-33.4	-16.0
Percentage of total farms	55.9	54.3	50.7	47.6	39.9	35.5	32.6	-41.7	-40.0	-35.7	-31.5	-18.3	-8.2
Average number per farm reporting	8	10	12	15	13	17	18	125.0	80.0	50.0	20.0	38.5	5.9
Bulls 1 year and over	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	3,011	2,677	1,958	1,651	1,793	1,310	1,228	-59.2	-54.1	-37.3	-25.6	-31.5	-6.3
Farms reporting	1,852	1,683	1,334	1,197	1,105	866	764	-58.7	-54.6	-42.7	-36.2	-30.9	-11.8
Percentage of total farms	40.7	41.4	37.5	36.8	32.5	28.5	27.5	-32.4	-33.6	-26.7	-25.3	-15.4	-3.5
Average number per farm reporting	2	2	1	1	2	2	2	0.0	0.0	100.0	100.0	0.0	0.0
Steers 1 year and over	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	10,482	8,485	9,333	6,126	8,886	6,078	5,160	-50.8	-39.2	-44.7	-15.8	-41.9	-15.1
Farms reporting	1,340	943	822	608	677	424	425	-68.3	-54.9	-48.3	-30.1	-37.2	0.2
Percentage of total farms	29.4	23.2	23.1	18.7	19.9	14.0	15.3	-48.0	-34.1	-33.8	-18.2	-23.1	9.3
Average number per farm reporting	8	9	11	10	13	14	12	50.0	33.3	9.1	20.0	-7.7	-14.3
Calves under 1 year	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	29,851	30,796	28,492	28,240	27,966	25,978	25,499	-14.6	-17.2	-10.5	-9.7	-8.8	-1.8
Farms reporting	2,873	2,447	2,018	1,754	1,586	1,305	1,153	-59.9	-52.9	-42.9	-34.3	-27.3	-11.6
Percentage of total farms	63.1	60.2	56.8	53.9	46.6	43.0	41.5	-34.2	-31.1	-26.9	-23.0	-10.9	-3.5
Average number per farm reporting	10	13	14	16	18	20	22	120.0	69.2	57.1	37.5	22.2	10.0
Symbols x suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act 0 true zero or a value rounded to zero xxfor confidentiality reasons, data have been combined with those of the preceding size class .. not available for a specific reference period ...not applicable Notes Comparability among censuses prior to 1996 and those after is affected by a change in census date from the first week of June to mid-May when a lower percentage of calvings would have occurred. In 1976, the number of "Beef cows" was obtained by subtracting "Cows milking or to be milked" from "Total cows." As a result, the size of the dairy herd was understated and the size of the beef herd was overstated because dairy farmers did not always report dry dairy cows under "Cows milking or to be milked." Since 1981, when a separate question on the number of "beef cows" was introduced, the reporting of both dairy and beef cows has improved. Due to response errors in 1996, the number of "Dairy cows" and the number of farms reporting dairy cows may have been overstated, whereas the number of "Beef cows" and the number of farms reporting beef cows may have been understated. The total number of cattle and calves, however, was not affected. These errors limit the comparability of the data between 1996 and the other census years. Response errors were more prevalent in provinces with a low proportion of dairy operations. Source Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture.

Quebec

Table 2.12
Cattle and calves, Canada and provinces, census years 1976 to 2006
Quebec	1976	1981	1986	1991	1996	2001	2006	1976 to 2006	1981 to 2006	1986 to 2006	1991 to 2006	1996 to 2006	2001 to 2006
Quebec	Empty cell							percentage change
Total cattle and calves	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	1,759,393	1,665,691	1,525,582	1,445,906	1,439,743	1,362,788	1,393,434	-20.8	-16.3	-8.7	-3.6	-3.2	2.2
Farms reporting	38,610	31,570	26,062	22,388	19,658	16,100	14,016	-63.7	-55.6	-46.2	-37.4	-28.7	-12.9
Percentage of total farms	74.8	65.6	62.9	58.8	54.6	50.1	45.7	-38.9	-30.3	-27.3	-22.3	-16.3	-8.8
Average number per farm reporting	46	53	59	65	73	85	99	115.2	86.8	67.8	52.3	35.6	16.5
Dairy cows^1,2	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	825,470	705,935	577,743	514,542	471,855	407,206	382,363	-53.7	-45.8	-33.8	-25.7	-19.0	-6.1
Farms reporting	29,075	22,175	17,633	14,110	11,557	9,115	7,484	-74.3	-66.3	-57.6	-47.0	-35.2	-17.9
Percentage of total farms	56.4	46.1	42.5	37.1	32.1	28.4	24.4	-56.7	-47.1	-42.6	-34.2	-24.0	-14.1
Average number per farm reporting	28	32	33	36	41	45	51	82.1	59.4	54.5	41.7	24.4	13.3
Beef cows^1,2	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	245,782	146,326	163,090	187,498	231,891	207,852	226,236	-8.0	54.6	38.7	20.7	-2.4	8.8
Farms reporting	22,985	10,065	8,925	8,526	8,470	6,130	5,699	-75.2	-43.4	-36.1	-33.2	-32.7	-7.0
Percentage of total farms	44.6	20.9	21.5	22.4	23.5	19.1	18.6	-58.3	-11.0	-13.5	-17.0	-20.9	-2.6
Average number per farm reporting	11	15	18	22	27	34	40	263.6	166.7	122.2	81.8	48.1	17.6
Total heifers	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	264,959	336,785	312,984	292,411	249,300	234,959	241,663	-8.8	-28.2	-22.8	-17.4	-3.1	2.9
Farms reporting	31,972	27,392	22,588	18,848	16,012	12,923	10,933	-65.8	-60.1	-51.6	-42.0	-31.7	-15.4
Percentage of total farms	62.0	56.9	54.5	49.5	44.5	40.2	35.6	-42.6	-37.4	-34.7	-28.1	-20.0	-11.4
Average number per farm reporting	8	12	14	16	16	18	22	175.0	83.3	57.1	37.5	37.5	22.2
Bulls 1 year and over	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	45,314	40,632	27,017	21,926	22,599	13,626	13,262	-70.7	-67.4	-50.9	-39.5	-41.3	-2.7
Farms reporting	25,175	19,856	15,152	12,266	10,942	7,519	6,503	-74.2	-67.2	-57.1	-47.0	-40.6	-13.5
Percentage of total farms	48.8	41.2	36.6	32.2	30.4	23.4	21.2	-56.6	-48.5	-42.1	-34.2	-30.3	-9.4
Average number per farm reporting	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Steers 1 year and over	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	68,998	69,979	68,914	55,055	81,715	81,743	107,229	55.4	53.2	55.6	94.8	31.2	31.2
Farms reporting	11,628	6,486	4,744	3,423	4,215	2,805	2,872	-75.3	-55.7	-39.5	-16.1	-31.9	2.4
Percentage of total farms	22.5	13.5	11.4	9.0	11.7	8.7	9.4	-58.2	-30.4	-17.5	4.4	-19.7	8.0
Average number per farm reporting	6	11	15	16	19	29	37	516.7	236.4	146.7	131.3	94.7	27.6
Calves under 1 year	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	308,870	366,034	375,834	374,474	382,383	417,402	422,681	36.8	15.5	12.5	12.9	10.5	1.3
Farms reporting	32,854	28,154	23,884	20,446	18,007	14,937	12,815	-61.0	-54.5	-46.3	-37.3	-28.8	-14.2
Percentage of total farms	63.7	58.5	57.6	53.7	50.0	46.5	41.8	-34.4	-28.5	-27.4	-22.2	-16.4	-10.1
Average number per farm reporting	9	13	16	18	21	28	33	266.7	153.8	106.3	83.3	57.1	17.9
Symbols x suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act 0 true zero or a value rounded to zero xxfor confidentiality reasons, data have been combined with those of the preceding size class .. not available for a specific reference period ...not applicable Notes Comparability among censuses prior to 1996 and those after is affected by a change in census date from the first week of June to mid-May when a lower percentage of calvings would have occurred. In 1976, the number of "Beef cows" was obtained by subtracting "Cows milking or to be milked" from "Total cows." As a result, the size of the dairy herd was understated and the size of the beef herd was overstated because dairy farmers did not always report dry dairy cows under "Cows milking or to be milked." Since 1981, when a separate question on the number of "beef cows" was introduced, the reporting of both dairy and beef cows has improved. Due to response errors in 1996, the number of "Dairy cows" and the number of farms reporting dairy cows may have been overstated, whereas the number of "Beef cows" and the number of farms reporting beef cows may have been understated. The total number of cattle and calves, however, was not affected. These errors limit the comparability of the data between 1996 and the other census years. Response errors were more prevalent in provinces with a low proportion of dairy operations. Source Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture.

Ontario

Table 2.12
Cattle and calves, Canada and provinces, census years 1976 to 2006
Ontario	1976	1981	1986	1991	1996	2001	2006	1976 to 2006	1981 to 2006	1986 to 2006	1991 to 2006	1996 to 2006	2001 to 2006
Ontario	Empty cell							percentage change
Total cattle and calves	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	3,159,508	2,898,494	2,441,785	2,285,954	2,285,996	2,140,731	1,982,651	-37.2	-31.6	-18.8	-13.3	-13.3	-7.4
Farms reporting	56,923	47,515	39,647	35,584	33,394	28,209	25,040	-56.0	-47.3	-36.8	-29.6	-25.0	-11.2
Percentage of total farms	64.1	57.6	54.5	51.8	49.5	47.2	43.8	-31.7	-24.0	-19.6	-15.4	-11.5	-7.2
Average number per farm reporting	56	61	62	64	68	76	79	41.1	29.5	27.4	23.4	16.2	3.9
Dairy cows^1,2	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	664,972	552,748	475,223	442,996	404,797	363,544	329,737	-50.4	-40.3	-30.6	-25.6	-18.5	-9.3
Farms reporting	23,628	17,637	14,025	11,644	10,122	7,557	6,092	-74.2	-65.5	-56.6	-47.7	-39.8	-19.4
Percentage of total farms	26.6	21.4	19.3	17.0	15.0	12.7	10.6	-60.2	-50.5	-45.1	-37.6	-29.3	-16.5
Average number per farm reporting	28	31	34	38	40	48	54	92.9	74.2	58.8	42.1	35.0	12.5
Beef cows^1,2	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	508,313	378,311	343,946	389,659	441,211	376,020	377,354	-25.8	-0.3	9.7	-3.2	-14.5	0.4
Farms reporting	32,907	23,175	19,966	19,629	19,572	16,179	15,017	-54.4	-35.2	-24.8	-23.5	-23.3	-7.2
Percentage of total farms	37.1	28.1	27.5	28.6	29.0	27.1	26.2	-29.4	-6.8	-4.7	-8.4	-9.7	-3.3
Average number per farm reporting	15	16	17	20	23	23	25	66.7	56.3	47.1	25.0	8.7	8.7
Total heifers	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	581,351	676,622	601,382	514,082	450,777	449,326	414,483	-28.7	-38.7	-31.1	-19.4	-8.1	-7.8
Farms reporting	42,049	36,113	29,760	25,227	23,904	19,647	16,374	-61.1	-54.7	-45.0	-35.1	-31.5	-16.7
Percentage of total farms	47.4	43.8	40.9	36.8	35.4	32.9	28.6	-39.7	-34.7	-30.1	-22.3	-19.2	-13.1
Average number per farm reporting	14	19	20	20	19	23	25	78.6	31.6	25.0	25.0	31.6	8.7
Bulls 1 year and over	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	40,658	34,435	25,677	27,691	32,677	24,435	22,536	-44.6	-34.6	-12.2	-18.6	-31.0	-7.8
Farms reporting	24,806	21,182	16,706	16,748	17,232	13,896	12,338	-50.3	-41.8	-26.1	-26.3	-28.4	-11.2
Percentage of total farms	27.9	25.7	23.0	24.4	25.5	23.3	21.6	-22.6	-16.0	-6.1	-11.5	-15.3	-7.3
Average number per farm reporting	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Steers 1 year and over	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	758,716	622,781	424,326	333,397	348,663	332,215	311,989	-58.9	-49.9	-26.5	-6.4	-10.5	-6.1
Farms reporting	31,309	22,540	16,020	11,975	13,005	9,234	8,442	-73.0	-62.5	-47.3	-29.5	-35.1	-8.6
Percentage of total farms	35.3	27.3	22.0	17.4	19.3	15.5	14.8	-58.1	-45.8	-32.7	-14.9	-23.3	-4.5
Average number per farm reporting	24	28	26	28	27	36	37	54.2	32.1	42.3	32.1	37.0	2.8
Calves under 1 year	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	605,498	633,597	571,231	578,129	607,871	595,191	526,552	-13.0	-16.9	-7.8	-8.9	-13.4	-11.5
Farms reporting	44,233	38,212	32,086	29,194	27,992	23,906	20,942	-52.7	-45.2	-34.7	-28.3	-25.2	-12.4
Percentage of total farms	49.8	46.3	44.1	42.5	41.5	40.0	36.6	-26.5	-21.0	-17.0	-13.9	-11.8	-8.5
Average number per farm reporting	14	17	18	20	22	25	25	78.6	47.1	38.9	25.0	13.6	0.0
Symbols x suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act 0 true zero or a value rounded to zero xxfor confidentiality reasons, data have been combined with those of the preceding size class .. not available for a specific reference period ...not applicable Notes Comparability among censuses prior to 1996 and those after is affected by a change in census date from the first week of June to mid-May when a lower percentage of calvings would have occurred. In 1976, the number of "Beef cows" was obtained by subtracting "Cows milking or to be milked" from "Total cows." As a result, the size of the dairy herd was understated and the size of the beef herd was overstated because dairy farmers did not always report dry dairy cows under "Cows milking or to be milked." Since 1981, when a separate question on the number of "beef cows" was introduced, the reporting of both dairy and beef cows has improved. Due to response errors in 1996, the number of "Dairy cows" and the number of farms reporting dairy cows may have been overstated, whereas the number of "Beef cows" and the number of farms reporting beef cows may have been understated. The total number of cattle and calves, however, was not affected. These errors limit the comparability of the data between 1996 and the other census years. Response errors were more prevalent in provinces with a low proportion of dairy operations. Source Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture.

Manitoba

Table 2.12
Cattle and calves, Canada and provinces, census years 1976 to 2006
Manitoba	1976	1981	1986	1991	1996	2001	2006	1976 to 2006	1981 to 2006	1986 to 2006	1991 to 2006	1996 to 2006	2001 to 2006
Manitoba	Empty cell							percentage change
Total cattle and calves	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	1,399,877	1,175,966	1,114,720	1,108,780	1,355,162	1,424,427	1,573,097	12.4	33.8	41.1	41.9	16.1	10.4
Farms reporting	20,540	15,995	13,868	12,975	12,807	11,333	10,217	-50.3	-36.1	-26.3	-21.3	-20.2	-9.8
Percentage of total farms	64.0	54.3	50.7	50.5	52.5	53.8	53.6	-16.3	-1.3	5.7	6.1	2.1	-0.4
Average number per farm reporting	68	74	80	85	106	126	154	126.5	108.1	92.5	81.2	45.3	22.2
Dairy cows^1,2	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	91,534	83,188	64,967	56,106	59,404	42,407	44,019	-51.9	-47.1	-32.2	-21.5	-25.9	3.8
Farms reporting	7,090	4,372	3,019	2,214	1,596	853	622	-91.2	-85.8	-79.4	-71.9	-61.0	-27.1
Percentage of total farms	22.1	14.8	11.0	8.6	6.5	4.0	3.3	-85.1	-77.7	-70.0	-61.6	-49.2	-17.5
Average number per farm reporting	13	19	22	25	37	50	71	446.2	273.7	222.7	184.0	91.9	42.0
Beef cows^1,2	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	491,111	389,363	378,126	411,131	510,197	563,300	655,587	33.5	68.4	73.4	59.5	28.5	16.4
Farms reporting	16,972	12,004	10,814	10,767	10,859	10,089	9,216	-45.7	-23.2	-14.8	-14.4	-15.1	-8.7
Percentage of total farms	52.9	40.8	39.6	41.9	44.5	47.9	48.4	-8.5	18.6	22.2	15.5	8.8	1.0
Average number per farm reporting	29	32	35	38	47	56	71	144.8	121.9	102.9	86.8	51.1	26.8
Total heifers	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	179,482	162,290	155,307	140,607	166,425	168,883	180,249	0.4	11.1	16.1	28.2	8.3	6.7
Farms reporting	15,554	11,948	10,213	9,101	9,308	7,636	6,673	-57.1	-44.1	-34.7	-26.7	-28.3	-12.6
Percentage of total farms	48.4	40.6	37.4	35.4	38.2	36.2	35.0	-27.7	-13.8	-6.4	-1.1	-8.4	-3.3
Average number per farm reporting	12	14	15	15	18	22	27	125.0	92.9	80.0	80.0	50.0	22.7
Bulls 1 year and over	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	24,931	22,683	20,486	22,543	28,149	27,045	30,982	24.3	36.6	51.2	37.4	10.1	14.6
Farms reporting	13,419	11,082	9,578	9,590	9,787	8,724	8,079	-39.8	-27.1	-15.7	-15.8	-17.5	-7.4
Percentage of total farms	41.8	37.6	35.0	37.3	40.1	41.4	42.4	1.4	12.8	21.1	13.7	5.7	2.4
Average number per farm reporting	2	2	2	2	3	3	4	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	33.3	33.3
Steers 1 year and over	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	213,676	137,301	124,766	79,098	115,119	101,194	103,906	-51.4	-24.3	-16.7	31.4	-9.7	2.7
Farms reporting	13,521	8,091	6,864	4,063	5,407	3,281	3,711	-72.6	-54.1	-45.9	-8.7	-31.4	13.1
Percentage of total farms	42.1	27.5	25.1	15.8	22.2	15.6	19.5	-53.7	-29.1	-22.3	23.4	-12.2	25.0
Average number per farm reporting	16	17	18	19	21	31	28	75.0	64.7	55.6	47.4	33.3	-9.7
Calves under 1 year	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	399,143	381,141	371,068	399,295	475,868	521,598	558,354	39.9	46.5	50.5	39.8	17.3	7.0
Farms reporting	18,359	14,379	12,503	11,826	11,744	10,628	9,499	-48.3	-33.9	-24.0	-19.7	-19.1	-10.6
Percentage of total farms	57.2	48.8	45.7	46.0	48.2	50.4	49.9	-12.8	2.3	9.2	8.5	3.5	-1.0
Average number per farm reporting	22	27	30	34	41	49	59	168.2	118.5	96.7	73.5	43.9	20.4
Symbols x suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act 0 true zero or a value rounded to zero xxfor confidentiality reasons, data have been combined with those of the preceding size class .. not available for a specific reference period ...not applicable Notes Comparability among censuses prior to 1996 and those after is affected by a change in census date from the first week of June to mid-May when a lower percentage of calvings would have occurred. In 1976, the number of "Beef cows" was obtained by subtracting "Cows milking or to be milked" from "Total cows." As a result, the size of the dairy herd was understated and the size of the beef herd was overstated because dairy farmers did not always report dry dairy cows under "Cows milking or to be milked." Since 1981, when a separate question on the number of "beef cows" was introduced, the reporting of both dairy and beef cows has improved. Due to response errors in 1996, the number of "Dairy cows" and the number of farms reporting dairy cows may have been overstated, whereas the number of "Beef cows" and the number of farms reporting beef cows may have been understated. The total number of cattle and calves, however, was not affected. These errors limit the comparability of the data between 1996 and the other census years. Response errors were more prevalent in provinces with a low proportion of dairy operations. Source Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture.

Saskatchewan

Table 2.12
Cattle and calves, Canada and provinces, census years 1976 to 2006
Saskatchewan	1976	1981	1986	1991	1996	2001	2006	1976 to 2006	1981 to 2006	1986 to 2006	1991 to 2006	1996 to 2006	2001 to 2006
Saskatchewan	Empty cell							percentage change
Total cattle and calves	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	3,132,420	2,418,457	2,050,576	2,285,844	2,723,642	2,899,502	3,363,235	7.4	39.1	64.0	47.1	23.5	16.0
Farms reporting	42,348	32,805	26,389	25,091	25,108	22,555	21,007	-50.4	-36.0	-20.4	-16.3	-16.3	-6.9
Percentage of total farms	59.7	48.7	41.6	41.2	44.1	44.6	47.4	-20.6	-2.7	13.9	15.0	7.5	6.3
Average number per farm reporting	74	74	78	91	108	129	160	116.2	116.2	105.1	75.8	48.1	24.0
Dairy cows^1,2	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	75,431	84,619	53,097	45,324	38,154	30,136	28,313	-62.5	-66.5	-46.7	-37.5	-25.8	-6.0
Farms reporting	12,174	7,197	4,289	2,977	1,512	686	453	-96.3	-93.7	-89.4	-84.8	-70.0	-34.0
Percentage of total farms	17.2	10.7	6.8	4.9	2.7	1.4	1.0	-94.2	-90.7	-85.3	-79.6	-63.0	-28.6
Average number per farm reporting	6	12	12	15	25	44	63	950.0	425.0	425.0	320.0	152.0	43.2
Beef cows^1,2	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	1,213,744	946,049	765,787	898,339	1,135,027	1,215,216	1,444,640	19.0	52.7	88.6	60.8	27.3	18.9
Farms reporting	38,374	27,753	22,643	22,232	22,906	20,987	19,738	-48.6	-28.9	-12.8	-11.2	-13.8	-6.0
Percentage of total farms	54.1	41.2	35.7	36.5	40.2	41.5	44.5	-17.7	8.0	24.6	21.9	10.7	7.2
Average number per farm reporting	32	34	34	40	50	58	73	128.1	114.7	114.7	82.5	46.0	25.9
Total heifers	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	386,220	270,800	272,151	271,584	294,949	308,802	350,465	-9.3	29.4	28.8	29.0	18.8	13.5
Farms reporting	31,733	23,604	19,090	17,315	17,913	15,192	14,038	-55.8	-40.5	-26.5	-18.9	-21.6	-7.6
Percentage of total farms	44.7	35.1	30.1	28.5	31.4	30.0	31.7	-29.1	-9.7	5.3	11.2	1.0	5.7
Average number per farm reporting	12	11	14	16	16	20	25	108.3	127.3	78.6	56.3	56.3	25.0
Bulls 1 year and over	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	63,348	55,430	45,377	51,952	65,013	62,744	71,508	12.9	29.0	57.6	37.6	10.0	14.0
Farms reporting	27,745	22,965	18,013	18,688	19,325	17,684	16,910	-39.1	-26.4	-6.1	-9.5	-12.5	-4.4
Percentage of total farms	39.1	34.1	28.4	30.7	33.9	34.9	38.1	-2.6	11.7	34.2	24.1	12.4	9.2
Average number per farm reporting	2	2	3	3	3	4	4	100.0	100.0	33.3	33.3	33.3	0.0
Steers 1 year and over	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	397,577	187,011	197,847	180,959	196,680	148,914	207,251	-47.9	10.8	4.8	14.5	5.4	39.2
Farms reporting	27,064	14,510	11,835	7,925	10,185	5,751	7,375	-72.7	-49.2	-37.7	-6.9	-27.6	28.2
Percentage of total farms	38.1	21.6	18.7	13.0	17.9	11.4	16.6	-56.4	-23.1	-11.2	27.7	-7.3	45.6
Average number per farm reporting	15	13	17	23	19	26	28	86.7	115.4	64.7	21.7	47.4	7.7
Calves under 1 year	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	996,100	874,548	716,317	837,686	993,819	1,133,690	1,261,058	26.6	44.2	76.0	50.5	26.9	11.2
Farms reporting	38,649	29,724	23,633	22,842	22,893	21,271	19,612	-49.3	-34.0	-17.0	-14.1	-14.3	-7.8
Percentage of total farms	54.5	44.2	37.3	37.5	40.2	42.0	44.2	-18.9	0.0	18.5	17.9	10.0	5.2
Average number per farm reporting	26	29	30	37	43	53	64	146.2	120.7	113.3	73.0	48.8	20.8
Symbols x suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act 0 true zero or a value rounded to zero xxfor confidentiality reasons, data have been combined with those of the preceding size class .. not available for a specific reference period ...not applicable Notes Comparability among censuses prior to 1996 and those after is affected by a change in census date from the first week of June to mid-May when a lower percentage of calvings would have occurred. In 1976, the number of "Beef cows" was obtained by subtracting "Cows milking or to be milked" from "Total cows." As a result, the size of the dairy herd was understated and the size of the beef herd was overstated because dairy farmers did not always report dry dairy cows under "Cows milking or to be milked." Since 1981, when a separate question on the number of "beef cows" was introduced, the reporting of both dairy and beef cows has improved. Due to response errors in 1996, the number of "Dairy cows" and the number of farms reporting dairy cows may have been overstated, whereas the number of "Beef cows" and the number of farms reporting beef cows may have been understated. The total number of cattle and calves, however, was not affected. These errors limit the comparability of the data between 1996 and the other census years. Response errors were more prevalent in provinces with a low proportion of dairy operations. Source Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture.

Alberta

Table 2.12
Cattle and calves, Canada and provinces, census years 1976 to 2006
Alberta	1976	1981	1986	1991	1996	2001	2006	1976 to 2006	1981 to 2006	1986 to 2006	1991 to 2006	1996 to 2006	2001 to 2006
Alberta	Empty cell							percentage change
Total cattle and calves	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	4,614,372	4,192,887	3,827,143	4,756,365	5,942,257	6,615,201	6,369,116	38.0	51.9	66.4	33.9	7.2	-3.7
Farms reporting	44,569	37,134	33,498	34,912	36,560	31,774	28,751	-35.5	-22.6	-14.2	-17.6	-21.4	-9.5
Percentage of total farms	72.9	64.0	58.0	61.0	62.0	59.2	58.2	-20.2	-9.1	0.3	-4.6	-6.1	-1.7
Average number per farm reporting	104	113	114	136	163	208	222	113.5	96.5	94.7	63.2	36.2	6.7
Dairy cows^1,2	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	157,352	165,528	124,204	105,905	102,830	84,044	78,875	-49.9	-52.3	-36.5	-25.5	-23.3	-6.2
Farms reporting	14,497	8,827	5,574	3,897	2,822	1,422	1,107	-92.4	-87.5	-80.1	-71.6	-60.8	-22.2
Percentage of total farms	23.7	15.2	9.6	6.8	4.8	2.7	2.2	-90.7	-85.5	-77.1	-67.6	-54.2	-18.5
Average number per farm reporting	11	19	22	27	36	59	71	545.5	273.7	222.7	163.0	97.2	20.3
Beef cows^1,2	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	1,590,315	1,367,783	1,321,556	1,635,727	2,016,889	2,099,288	2,035,841	28.0	48.8	54.0	24.5	0.9	-3.0
Farms reporting	38,635	29,739	27,655	30,067	32,048	28,510	25,665	-33.6	-13.7	-7.2	-14.6	-19.9	-10.0
Percentage of total farms	63.2	51.2	47.9	52.5	54.3	53.1	51.9	-17.9	1.4	8.4	-1.1	-4.4	-2.3
Average number per farm reporting	41	46	48	54	63	74	79	92.7	71.7	64.6	46.3	25.4	6.8
Total heifers	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	632,865	631,732	571,158	733,665	952,563	1,159,329	1,119,315	76.9	77.2	96.0	52.6	17.5	-3.5
Farms reporting	32,759	26,340	22,888	23,310	23,933	20,126	17,757	-45.8	-32.6	-22.4	-23.8	-25.8	-11.8
Percentage of total farms	53.6	45.4	39.6	40.7	40.6	37.5	35.9	-33.0	-20.9	-9.3	-11.8	-11.6	-4.3
Average number per farm reporting	19	24	25	31	40	58	63	231.6	162.5	152.0	103.2	57.5	8.6
Bulls 1 year and over	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	88,241	89,514	78,996	95,525	118,600	111,379	109,753	24.4	22.6	38.9	14.9	-7.5	-1.5
Farms reporting	31,905	27,929	24,571	27,232	28,146	24,299	22,014	-31.0	-21.2	-10.4	-19.2	-21.8	-9.4
Percentage of total farms	52.2	48.1	42.5	47.6	47.7	45.3	44.5	-14.8	-7.5	4.7	-6.5	-6.7	-1.8
Average number per farm reporting	3	3	3	4	4	5	5	66.7	66.7	66.7	25.0	25.0	0.0
Steers 1 year and over	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	769,728	631,092	478,147	626,350	892,696	991,554	974,559	26.6	54.4	103.8	55.6	9.2	-1.7
Farms reporting	26,691	16,855	13,189	10,518	12,855	7,698	9,975	-62.6	-40.8	-24.4	-5.2	-22.4	29.6
Percentage of total farms	43.7	29.0	22.8	18.4	21.8	14.3	20.2	-53.8	-30.3	-11.4	9.8	-7.3	41.3
Average number per farm reporting	29	37	36	60	69	129	98	237.9	164.9	172.2	63.3	42.0	-24.0
Calves under 1 year	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	1,375,871	1,307,238	1,253,082	1,559,193	1,858,679	2,169,607	2,050,773	49.1	56.9	63.7	31.5	10.3	-5.5
Farms reporting	40,238	32,758	29,513	31,247	32,383	29,298	26,033	-35.3	-20.5	-11.8	-16.7	-19.6	-11.1
Percentage of total farms	65.8	56.4	51.1	54.6	54.9	54.6	52.7	-19.9	-6.6	3.1	-3.5	-4.0	-3.5
Average number per farm reporting	34	40	42	50	57	74	79	132.4	97.5	88.1	58.0	38.6	6.8
Symbols x suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act 0 true zero or a value rounded to zero xxfor confidentiality reasons, data have been combined with those of the preceding size class .. not available for a specific reference period ...not applicable Notes Comparability among censuses prior to 1996 and those after is affected by a change in census date from the first week of June to mid-May when a lower percentage of calvings would have occurred. In 1976, the number of "Beef cows" was obtained by subtracting "Cows milking or to be milked" from "Total cows." As a result, the size of the dairy herd was understated and the size of the beef herd was overstated because dairy farmers did not always report dry dairy cows under "Cows milking or to be milked." Since 1981, when a separate question on the number of "beef cows" was introduced, the reporting of both dairy and beef cows has improved. Due to response errors in 1996, the number of "Dairy cows" and the number of farms reporting dairy cows may have been overstated, whereas the number of "Beef cows" and the number of farms reporting beef cows may have been understated. The total number of cattle and calves, however, was not affected. These errors limit the comparability of the data between 1996 and the other census years. Response errors were more prevalent in provinces with a low proportion of dairy operations. Source Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture.

British Columbia

Table 2.12
Cattle and calves, Canada and provinces, census years 1976 to 2006
British Columbia	1976	1981	1986	1991	1996	2001	2006	1976 to 2006	1981 to 2006	1986 to 2006	1991 to 2006	1996 to 2006	2001 to 2006
British Columbia	Empty cell							percentage change
Total cattle and calves	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	690,443	789,841	689,957	752,414	814,103	814,949	800,855	16.0	1.4	16.1	6.4	-1.6	-1.7
Farms reporting	11,652	11,246	9,333	8,698	9,185	7,726	6,996	-40.0	-37.8	-25.0	-19.6	-23.8	-9.4
Percentage of total farms	60.0	56.2	49.0	45.2	42.1	38.1	35.3	-41.2	-37.2	-28.0	-21.9	-16.2	-7.3
Average number per farm reporting	59	70	74	87	89	105	114	93.2	62.9	54.1	31.0	28.1	8.6
Dairy cows^1,2	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	81,506	89,279	75,005	74,919	82,008	71,401	72,756	-10.7	-18.5	-3.0	-2.9	-11.3	1.9
Farms reporting	4,818	3,695	2,601	2,038	1,644	1,044	812	-83.1	-78.0	-68.8	-60.2	-50.6	-22.2
Percentage of total farms	24.8	18.5	13.6	10.6	7.5	5.1	4.1	-83.5	-77.8	-69.9	-61.3	-45.3	-19.6
Average number per farm reporting	17	24	29	37	50	68	90	429.4	275.0	210.3	143.2	80.0	32.4
Beef cows^1,2	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	223,384	233,911	214,670	242,742	273,217	279,927	276,897	24.0	18.4	29.0	14.1	1.3	-1.1
Farms reporting	7,366	6,613	5,868	5,852	6,182	5,365	5,004	-32.1	-24.3	-14.7	-14.5	-19.1	-6.7
Percentage of total farms	37.9	33.0	30.8	30.4	28.3	26.4	25.2	-33.5	-23.6	-18.2	-17.1	-11.0	-4.5
Average number per farm reporting	30	35	37	41	44	52	55	83.3	57.1	48.6	34.1	25.0	5.8
Total heifers	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	97,579	127,058	106,703	114,813	114,455	112,032	106,684	9.3	-16.0	0.0	-7.1	-6.8	-4.8
Farms reporting	7,870	7,804	6,142	5,562	5,687	5,023	4,303	-45.3	-44.9	-29.9	-22.6	-24.3	-14.3
Percentage of total farms	40.5	39.0	32.2	28.9	26.0	24.8	21.7	-46.4	-44.4	-32.6	-24.9	-16.5	-12.5
Average number per farm reporting	12	16	17	21	20	22	25	108.3	56.3	47.1	19.0	25.0	13.6
Bulls 1 year and over	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	14,972	18,377	14,199	15,901	18,805	17,215	17,027	13.7	-7.3	19.9	7.1	-9.5	-1.1
Farms reporting	4,740	5,239	4,343	4,548	4,952	4,253	3,873	-18.3	-26.1	-10.8	-14.8	-21.8	-8.9
Percentage of total farms	24.4	26.2	22.8	23.7	22.7	21.0	19.5	-20.1	-25.6	-14.5	-17.7	-14.1	-7.1
Average number per farm reporting	3	4	3	3	4	4	4	33.3	0.0	33.3	33.3	0.0	0.0
Steers 1 year and over	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	83,063	79,111	52,598	50,693	60,182	46,851	52,636	-36.6	-33.5	0.1	3.8	-12.5	12.3
Farms reporting	6,213	5,165	3,589	2,958	3,577	2,575	2,841	-54.3	-45.0	-20.8	-4.0	-20.6	10.3
Percentage of total farms	32.0	25.8	18.8	15.4	16.4	12.7	14.3	-55.3	-44.6	-23.9	-7.1	-12.8	12.6
Average number per farm reporting	13	15	15	17	17	18	19	46.2	26.7	26.7	11.8	11.8	5.6
Calves under 1 year	Empty cell							Empty cell
Number	189,939	242,105	226,782	253,346	265,436	287,523	274,855	44.7	13.5	21.2	8.5	3.5	-4.4
Farms reporting	9,013	9,165	7,368	6,953	7,298	6,425	5,733	-36.4	-37.4	-22.2	-17.5	-21.4	-10.8
Percentage of total farms	46.4	45.8	38.7	36.2	33.4	31.7	28.9	-37.7	-36.9	-25.3	-20.2	-13.5	-8.8
Average number per farm reporting	21	26	31	36	36	45	48	128.6	84.6	54.8	33.3	33.3	6.7
Symbols x suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act 0 true zero or a value rounded to zero xxfor confidentiality reasons, data have been combined with those of the preceding size class .. not available for a specific reference period ...not applicable Notes Comparability among censuses prior to 1996 and those after is affected by a change in census date from the first week of June to mid-May when a lower percentage of calvings would have occurred. In 1976, the number of "Beef cows" was obtained by subtracting "Cows milking or to be milked" from "Total cows." As a result, the size of the dairy herd was understated and the size of the beef herd was overstated because dairy farmers did not always report dry dairy cows under "Cows milking or to be milked." Since 1981, when a separate question on the number of "beef cows" was introduced, the reporting of both dairy and beef cows has improved. Due to response errors in 1996, the number of "Dairy cows" and the number of farms reporting dairy cows may have been overstated, whereas the number of "Beef cows" and the number of farms reporting beef cows may have been understated. The total number of cattle and calves, however, was not affected. These errors limit the comparability of the data between 1996 and the other census years. Response errors were more prevalent in provinces with a low proportion of dairy operations. Source Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture.

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Section 2 - Agricultural perspectives from seven censuses, Canada and provinces: census years 1976 to 2006

Canada

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Newfoundland and Labrador

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Prince Edward Island

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Nova Scotia

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New Brunswick

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Quebec

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Ontario

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Manitoba

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Saskatchewan

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Alberta

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British Columbia

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