The basics

  • 48% (109,901) of Canadian farms report a beef cattle population with an average of 61 beef cows per farm

  • 15% ($6.2 billion) of Canadian farm cash receipts are contributed by the cattle industry (2007)

  • About 1.4% (327,060) of Canada's 23.1 million adults are involved with agriculture

  • 327,060 people list their major occupation as farm-related; 174,425 people have a part-time farm related job

  • 67,586,000 hectares (167 million acres) of farmland in Canada

  • 22.8% of all Canadian arable land is in natural pasture.

  • 8.4% of all Canadian farmland has been cultivated and seeded to tame grasses

  • 229,373 farms are located in Canada

  • The meat processing industry is Canada's third largest manufacturing industry, ranking behind motor vehicles and petroleum products

  • 27,326 manufacturing jobs were attributed to meat processing in 2006, paying $982.2 million in salaries and wages per year

  • The cattle industry contributes approximately $25 billion to the Canadian economy