Non-traditional livestock decline in popularity

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

by BETTER FARMING STAFF

While populations of animals such as ostriches, emus, rheas, rabbits, ducks and goats rose in the 1990s, by 2006 their numbers had declined sharply, the report said. On-farm wild boar populations have similarly plunged. Elks, wapiti, geese and ranched deer were also on the decline.

However, some populations have grown. There are now nearly 200,000 bison on farms, an increase of 35 per cent from 2001 levels of 145,094; llama and alpaca are similarly on the rise, having reached nearly 32,000 in 2006, an increase of 23 per cent over the 2001 herd size of 25,782.

Horses and ponies remain the most popular alternative large livestock on farms, kept for breeding or recreation. In 2006 there were 453,965 horses and ponies reported on Canadian farms, a one per cent decrease over the 460,569 listed in 2001. In Ontario, however, the equine population was listed as 97,285 in 2006, an increase of nearly 14,000 over 2001 levels. BF