ABSTRACT
In Canada the main livestock-based industries are beef, pork, dairy, eggs and poultry. In comparison to beef and pork, sheep-based products play only a minor role in the Canadian agri-food sector (Statistics Canada, 2009). Consequently, Canada’s contribution to the global market for lamb is very small (Walker, 2008). The small size of the Canadian sheep population, the low volume of exports and the growing global demand for protein suggest an opportunity to expand the sheep industry in Canada. Impending climate change will introduce more variability to food production (Bonatti, Schlindwein, de Vasconcelos, Sieber, & D’Agostini, 2013). It is important for land use policies, including livestock, to be diverse and to leave a
minimal carbon footprint. Since both beef cattle and sheep are ruminants, the carbon footprint of sheep production can be defined most effectively by using the beef industry as a benchmark (Edwards-Jones, Plassmann, & Harris, 2009). Whether the current approach to raising sheep in Canada, which is relatively intensive, has a greater GHG emission intensity than beef production needs to be determined. If this was found to be true, then, from the perspective of GHG emissions, the land needed to expand sheep would be better used to support additional beef cattle.
