AI Analysis: Sheep statistics, quantity of raw wool purchased, used on farms, price and farm value

Executive Summary

Canada's raw wool industry has experienced a broad and sustained decline across all four key metrics over the 29-year period from 1996 to 2024, with total farm value dropping 77.6% and quantity purchased falling 51.3%. The most alarming signal is the accelerating recent downturn, with 2023 and 2024 wool purchase quantities (698.70 and 555.90 tonnes) falling well below the historical norm of 822–1,679 tonnes. Despite this overall contraction, on-farm wool use has proven relatively resilient (-16.3%), and significant regional variation persists, with Prince Edward Island commanding the highest average price at $1.53/kg versus Quebec's low of $0.58/kg.

Key Findings

• Total farm value of raw wool collapsed 77.6% from $1,287 in 1996 to $288 in 2024, representing the steepest long-term decline of any tracked metric.
• Quantity of raw wool purchased in 2023 (698.70 tonnes) and 2024 (555.90 tonnes) are statistical outliers, falling far below the 29-year historical range of 822–1,679 tonnes and signaling an accelerating industry contraction.
• Average price paid to producers is highly volatile, with six years recording year-over-year swings exceeding 30% — including a -50.0% crash in 2022 followed by a +37.1% partial recovery in 2024.
• Quantity of raw wool used on farms declined only 16.3% (from 56 to 46.9 kg) over the full period and showed no statistical outliers, making it the most stable of the four tracked metrics.
• Prince Edward Island leads all provinces with the highest average wool price at $1.53/kg — nearly three times Quebec's lowest provincial average of $0.58/kg — highlighting significant regional pricing disparities.
• Newfoundland and Labrador consistently ranks last among provinces for both quantity purchased (4.82 thousand kg average) and total farm value ($7,180 average), reflecting minimal sheep farming activity in that region.
• The dataset is highly complete with only 43 missing values out of 1,276 records (~3.4%), providing a reliable 29-year foundation for trend and policy analysis across 10 provinces and a national aggregate.