Each year, we at Progressive Cattle issue an annual statistics poster that includes production from a world perspective and the status of global trade. This year’s version has some noteworthy takeaways for the Canadian beef producer.
Start first with Canada’s own production. In 2024, Canada produced 1.3 million metric tons (MT) of beef, a 0.4% decline from the previous year. But that keeps Canada within the top 10 nations for beef production, making it 10th with 2.1% of total global supply coming from Canada.
Export-wise, Canada is a bigger player. The country shipped 560,000 MT of beef and veal to other countries in 2024, which means 43% of its beef and veal production is sent elsewhere. Only Australia (74%) exports more of its domestic production to trade partners. The U.S. sends 32% of its 12.2 million MT to international trade.
Now break down the exact portion of that Canadian export segment going to the U.S. Last year, it was 351,990 MT, according to the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), when divided by that 560,000 total that Canada shipped, that’s 63% of the trade volume going to the U.S.
When you also add in the significant numbers of live beef cattle from Canada coming over to the U.S., whether fat cattle or feeder calves, the mutual relationship is again shown to be critical in both countries’ ag economies.
But the hard facts remain. The U.S. is running a serious shortage of both beef animals and beef production in the current year. Cattle numbers are going into a seventh straight year of decline, and despite feeders keeping cattle longer on feed to amass pounds, production is also gearing up for a drop-off. In 2004, the necessity for beef imports for the U.S. jumped another 25% to 1.6 million MT. Imports from Australia and Brazil alone jumped 68% and 77%, respectively.
Making it worse is the ban of live cattle coming from Mexico into the U.S., due to the ongoing battle with New World screwworm (NWS). The U.S. government has been forced to significantly ramp up its fight along the border to kill the rising threat of traveling larvae. The ability to produce sterilized fly populations that kill off infected flies is going to take time, probably years. How the U.S. increases beef supply with a decline in the 1.2 million head from Mexico in 2024 is a huge question.
But I do expect Canada can provide many of the answers. Over several months of uncertainty between major elections in both countries, and trade and tariff escalations, the foundational fact remains that Canada and the U.S. rely on one another for a healthy beef industry.
In the first quarter of 2025, the U.S. imported 269,066 head of cattle from Canada, a 36% increase so far as the NWS battle has put the brakes on Mexican cattle. In March alone, the number of Canadian live cattle jumped 43% to 107,107 head.
Canada’s trade relationship with the U.S. endured some rocky and unnecessary friction over the past several months. But the bridges of connection still exist and must be reaffirmed. Key leaders may not say it, but the U.S. will need Canada even more in the coming years.
