US mink crop seen down slightly

SANDY PARKER REPORT, VOL. 31, ISSUE 21, JULY 9, 2007
The following extract is reproduced with permission from Sandy Parker Reports, Weekly International Fur News. Sandy Parker has been covering the fur industry for more than four decades. For most of that time he has published a weekly newsletter, detailing results of international pelt auctions, wholesale price trends, business developments and movements in the trade, as well as economic and political activities that may impact on it.

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International Fur News
with Sandy Parker

US mink crop seen down slightly

THIS YEAR’S MINK PRODUCTION IN THE U.S. could show the first decline in several years, if preliminary indications are borne out. The higher prices and more profitable levels at which North American ranchers have been operating in recent years have encouraged many to increase their herds. However, because of the very nature of the business, they don’t have full control of conditions that affect production.

Weatherwise, they generally got off to a good start this year, in that the breeding season itself went well. Where many ran into problems was at the peak of  the whelping period, around the end of April, when the newborn kits and their mothers are most sensitive to weather conditions. About 80% of the kits are said to be born in that small window and most of them in the dark ranch category. Abnormally high temperatures in the final week of that month in such major mink production areas as Utah and Wisconsin – combined with high wind conditions there – are said to have resulted in large losses of kits as their mothers crawled out of their nesting boxes and neglected them.

BECAUSE MANY RANCHERS HAD HELD BACK MORE FEMALES FOR BREEDING, the kit loss is expected to be mitigated. Nevertheless, instead of a slightly higher crop than last year’s, the expectation by auction officials, ranchers and other sources is that this year’s crop will come in a few percentage points lower. Last year’s crop, as reported by the U.S. Agriculture Dept., was 2.63 million, an increase of 3% over the previous year. It had been estimated that about 5% more females were held for breeding this year, which could have produced an additional 130,000 kits. Because of the unfavorable weather conditions, as well as feed and other problems, some estimate the kit loss could reach as many as 400,000.

IN THIS ISSUE:
Summer Doldrums Setting In
Activity Slows Around the World
U.S. Mink Crop Seen Down Slightly
Heat, Feed Problems Are Blamed
Sam Yarrow Dies at 80

For extracts from back issues of Sandy Parker Reports see News Archive. Subscribers can access an archive of complete issues at www.sandyparker.com.