Outlook for livestock feed input suppliers mixed

FCC Economics helps you make sense of the top economic trends and issues likely to affect your agribusiness in 2023.

The Canadian commercial feed market (for example, pelleted rations for cattle, dairy, hog and poultry) grew over 20% in 2022, reaching a record $11.5 billion in sales. Most of this growth was driven by increases in feed grain prices stemming from Russia’s war against Ukraine. The livestock sector has faced numerous years of tight feed supplies and expensive feed grains. High feed costs have pressured profitability throughout the Canadian livestock industry, including feed mill operators, as volatile commodity prices negatively impacted their margins.

We are projecting the Canadian commercial feed market to grow 6.6% in 2023 to $12.3 billion, driven by strong livestock receipts and feed grain prices that remain historically high. The Eastern Canadian commercial feed market is expected to have the largest growth at over 9% in 2023 to $6.1 billion. Eastern Canadian growth is driven by its large dairy sector and an expanding poultry sector. In Western Canada, we are projecting a 4.0% increase in feed sales to $5.7 billion, largely due to drought conditions and the need to purchase feed. In Atlantic Canada, we are projecting a 7.6% increase in feed sales but recent flooding in Nova Scotia could change that projection.