“In 2021, national farm cash receipts (FCR) for lamb operations, as reported by Statistics Canada, reached $227.6 million, nearly 11% increase over 2020,” says Ann Boyda, provincial livestock market analyst with Alberta Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Economic Development. “Alberta FCR for lamb reached $32.1 million, an increase of 7.8% over 2020. 2021 represented a record high year for lamb FCR. Alberta’s share of the national FCR remained steady at 14%.”
On February 28, 2022, Statistics Canada released the livestock inventory estimates for sheep on farms in Canada and the provinces (as of January 1, 2022). Sheep and lamb inventories rose year over year for the first time since January 2018. Alberta reported 148,100 head on farms, up 8.1% compared to 2021. Inventories increased for all classes of animals except rams, which remained flat.
The greatest increase of 20.4% and 11.9% in inventory over 2021 came from replacement lambs and market lambs, respectively. Alberta ewe inventory represented 48% of the total ewe inventory for Western Canada.
The Alberta lamb market continues to strengthen with 2021 average prices, based off the rail, averaging $286.78/head for a 120 lb live weight animal. This is a 10% increase over 2020. Year to date prices for 2022 continue to increase to an average of $325/head, a further 13.3% increase over 2021 average.