United States Sheep and Lamb Inventory Counts

Statistics Canada provides annual data on the United States sheep and lamb population, categorized by class and lamb crop, measured as of January 1st each year. The dataset tracks inventory numbers in thousands of head. It is sourced from Statistics Canada and was last updated in February 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyze year-over-year trends in total sheep inventory from the annual time-series data.
• Compare population counts between different sheep classes, such as breeding ewes versus market lambs.
• Calculate the lamb crop ratio using the reported number of lambs born relative to the ewe population.
• Model the relationship between inventory numbers and external factors like feed prices or export volumes.

Strengths

• Data is updated annually, providing a consistent time series.
• Figures are standardized and reported in thousands of head for comparability.
• Covers multiple sheep and lamb classes for detailed analysis.

Limitations

• The dataset contains no information on the number of rows or historical depth.
• Data is limited to a single annual snapshot (January 1) with no intra-year updates.
• Geographic coverage is restricted to the United States only.

Provenance

Source

Statistics Canada

Collection Method

null

Time Range

Annual data, point-in-time as of January 1.

Freshness

Updated annually, with a recent platform update in February 2026.

Geography

United States