Statistics Canada reported from Ottawa on Tuesday that the number of Canadian cattle, hogs and sheep declined in 2009, with cattle counts at a 15-year low.

According to the agency, there were 13 million head of cattle on 99,265 beef and dairy farms, which is the first time since record-keeping began there were fewer than 100,000 farms.

StatsCan further said "The Canadian dairy herd fell 0.2 percent during 2009, while the total beef herd fell 1.4 percent."

In 2009 the exports of live cattle and calves from Canada fell by 31.6 percent.

The report also said that the number of hog farms also fell to 7,360 in 2009, although the average number of hogs per farm rose to 1,580 from 1,482.

Number of sheep, according to the agency also fell by 0.2 percent to 806,600 head. (With Input from Agencies)