Mink Production, Pelt Value Dip in 1998

FCUSA COMMENTARY, JULY 28, 1999

US Mink Production, Pelt Value Dip in 1998; Five-Year Trends Positive

(Click here for the latest NASS stats - PDF format)

The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) of the US Department of Agriculture has issued its latest annual report on mink production in the US, up to the year 1998. Released on July 22, the report includes statistics on mink pelt production, females bred to produce kits, the number of mink farms, and the average price per pelt.

According to NASS, a total of 2.94 million mink pelts were produced in the US in 1998, compared with 2.99 million in 1997, a 2% drop. US pelt production was 2.78 million in 1996, 2.80 million in 1995, and 2.62 million in 1994. Despite the year-on-year dip in production in 1998, output represented a 12% increase over five years.

The largest producer State was Wisconsin with 800,500 pelts, up a substantial 31% from 1994 (611,000). With its thriving dairy industry, Wisconsin is able to supply the secondary industry of mink farming with a continuous supply of agricultural by-products for feedstuff.

By color class, the numbers of pelts as percentages of total US output were: Standard: 40.6%; Mahogany: 24.8%; Gunmetal: 15.3%; Ranch Wild: 6.0%; and Demi-buff: 3.9%. The remaining color classes accounted for 9.4%.

Pelts Per Female Bred Rising

Female mink bred in 1998 to produce kits totaled 659,900, says NASS, down 10% from 1997. This represents 4.46 pelts produced for every female bred in 1998. In 1994, female mink bred to produce kits totaled 708,300, or 3.6 pelts produced per female bred. This increase over the last five years reflects the results of superior care and nutrition on the farm.

As for the number of farms, the total farms in the US producing mink pelts slipped 3% in 1998 to 439. In 1994, there were 457 mink farms in the US. However, the 12% increase in pelt production since 1994 confirms that mink farms, in common with the US farming sector as a whole, is consolidating, with fewer farms producing more.

The leading State by number of farms in 1998 was Utah with 115, followed by Wisconsin (94) and Minnesota (44). There were 31 mink farms which also raised fox, unchanged from 1997 but down from 47 in 1994.

Pelt Values Fall

Mink pelts produced during the 1998 crop year were valued at $72.9 million, down 26% from 1997 ($99.1 million). The average price per pelt in 1998 was $24.80, down from $33.10 in 1997.

Over the five-year period 1994-98, however, the average pelt price stood at $35.76, up 46.3% from the average of $24.44 for the five-year period 1989-93.

Other low years for average pelt values were 1975 ($24.10), and the period 1989-92 ($21-25). Highs have included 1979 and 1986 ($41.00), 1987 ($43.00), and 1995 ($53.10).

Most industry analysts blame the current low pelt prices on the 1997 economic meltdown in Asia, and the more recent collapse of the Russian economy.

With severe winters that can last more than 6 months, Russia has traditionally consumed over half the world's fur supply, primarily for headgear. Exacerbating the problem for beleaguered Russian consumers is the dramatic fall in domestic production since the disintegration of the former Soviet Union and the subsequent demise of state-subsidized industries. In the mid- to long-term, however, the disappearance of state-subsidized fur production in Russia can only be good news for US mink producers, particularly if the buying power of Russian consumers rebounds.

For further information contact: Teresa Platt, Executive Director, Fur Commission USA, PMB 506, 826 Orange Avenue, Coronado, CA 92118-2698 USA. Tel: (619) 575-0139; Fax: (619) 575-5578; furfarmers@aol.com, www.furcommission.com.

Home