Cattle inventories continue to shrink in Canada, according to a Statistics Canada report from last week.

It says overall, herds declined by about two per cent from last year while slaughter and exports so far this year have also fallen from last year.

Brenna Grant, Manager of Canfax Research Services, says this is because beef producers were liquidating in 2014.

"It wasn't until we saw higher calf prices in the fall and cash was in producers pockets that we saw cow marketing at slaughter and exports alleviate and basically that means that we saw producers keeping those animals at home on the farm versus selling them."

The report says the total cattle inventory this year is 23 per cent lower this its peak level, recorded in 2005.

The hog inventory is the opposite and is increasing in Canada, and so is hog slaughter.

Stats Canada released another report last week showing while the number of hog farms in Canada have gone down slightly, hog populations have gone up about one per cent from last year.

Hog slaughter also increased in Canada during the first half of the year, up three per cent from 2014.

Canadian Pork Council Chair, Rick Bergmann, says this is because some producers are retaining animals that would've been live exports.

"Country of Origin Labeling has done tremendous damage to our industry over the years and also right now so some producers have made the decision to keep animals back here in Canada versus exporting the live animals primarily into the US."

The US has also seen a strong demand for hogs, with an increase in slaughter this year as well.