Mink ISSN: 1949-1549 Released July 15, 2016, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Special Note Annual Mink Production data is now available on Quick Stats. Please contact the Livestock Branch at (202) 720-3570 or email at hq_sd_lb@nass.usda.gov with any questions or concerns. Pelt Production Up Slightly Mink pelt production in the United States in 2015 totaled 3.75 million pelts, up slightly from 2014. Wisconsin, the largest mink producing State, produced 1.32 million pelts. Utah, the second largest producing State, produced 934 thousand pelts. The number of pelts by color class as a percent of the total United States production in 2015 is as follows: Black at 50 percent, Mahogany at 24 percent, and Blue Iris at 7 percent. The remaining color classes accounted for 19 percent. Value of pelts produced during the 2015 crop year was $117 million, down 46 percent from $216 million a year ago. The average price per pelt for the 2015 crop year was $31.10, down $26.60 from $57.70 in 2014. Female mink bred to produce kits in 2016 totaled 769 thousand, down 9 percent from the previous year. Percent of total females bred to produce kits in 2016 by color class is as follows: Black at 50 percent, Mahogany at 22 percent, and Blue Iris at 7 percent. The remaining color classes accounted for 21 percent. Mink Pelts Produced and Females Bred by Color Class - United States: 2014-2016 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Pelts produced : Females bred to produce kits :----------------------------------------------------------------------- Color class : 2014 : 2015 : 2015 : 2016 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : number : Black .........: 1,882,600 1,863,700 435,600 385,900 Demi/Wild .....: 80,460 79,280 20,920 19,420 Pastel ........: 112,650 110,900 24,550 28,120 Sapphire ......: 121,330 115,480 32,380 29,870 Blue Iris .....: 305,240 278,420 69,680 53,470 Mahogany ......: 903,650 896,840 179,940 167,300 Pearl .........: 103,970 95,700 16,980 16,640 Lavender ......: 13,590 22,460 6,640 7,750 Violet ........: 43,100 59,250 10,780 14,100 White .........: 155,180 205,910 46,770 43,210 Other .........: 19,380 21,510 4,460 3,280 : Total .........: 3,741,150 3,749,450 848,700 769,060 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mink Pelts Produced, Average Price, and Value - United States: 1996-2015 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ : Pelts :Average marketing: Value of Year : produced : price : mink pelts ------------------------------------------------------------------------ : number dollars dollars : 1996 .............: 2,783,200 35.30 98,246,960 1997 .............: 2,993,300 33.10 99,078,230 1998 .............: 2,938,100 24.80 72,864,880 1999 .............: 2,812,500 33.70 94,781,250 2000 .............: 2,666,100 34.00 90,647,400 2001 .............: 2,565,300 33.50 85,937,550 2002 .............: 2,607,300 30.60 79,783,380 2003 .............: 2,549,000 40.10 102,214,900 2004 .............: 2,558,100 47.10 120,486,510 2005 .............: 2,637,800 60.90 160,642,020 : 2006 .............: 2,858,800 48.40 138,365,920 2007 .............: 2,828,200 65.70 185,812,740 2008 .............: 2,820,700 41.60 117,341,120 2009 .............: 2,866,700 65.10 186,622,170 2010 .............: 2,840,200 81.90 232,612,380 2011 .............: 3,091,470 94.30 291,525,621 2012 1/ ..........: (NA) (NA) (NA) 2013 .............: 3,544,610 56.30 199,561,543 2014 .............: 3,741,150 57.70 215,864,355 2015 .............: 3,749,450 31.10 116,607,895 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ (NA) Not available. 1/ Due to sequestration the "Mink "report was suspended. Pelts Produced by Color Class - Selected States and United States: 2014 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ States : Black :Demi/Wild: Pastel :Sapphire :Blue Iris:Mahogany ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : number : Idaho ............: 139,000 7,500 4,300 17,500 (D) 164,000 Illinois .........: 68,000 - - (D) - (D) Iowa .............: 45,000 - (D) (D) (D) 34,000 Michigan .........: 36,000 - (D) (D) (D) 2,300 Minnesota ........: 84,000 27,000 (D) (D) 40,000 82,000 Montana ..........: 9,000 (D) (D) - (D) 9,500 Ohio .............: 68,000 (D) - (D) (D) 18,500 Oregon ...........: 215,000 - (D) (D) 80,000 (D) Pennsylvania .....: 36,000 (D) 8,000 9,000 19,000 (D) Utah .............: 320,000 37,000 (D) 40,000 1,500 425,000 Washington .......: 58,000 - - - (D) (D) Wisconsin ........: 800,000 1,100 31,000 39,000 138,000 117,000 : Other States 1/ ..: 4,600 7,860 69,350 15,830 26,740 51,350 : United States ....:1,882,600 80,460 112,650 121,330 305,240 903,650 :----------------------------------------------------------- States : Pearl :Lavender : Violet : White : Other :Total 2/ :----------------------------------------------------------- : number : Idaho ............: - (D) (D) - (D) 357,970 Illinois .........: (D) - (D) (D) - 97,740 Iowa .............: - - - (D) - 85,700 Michigan .........: - - - 8,000 - 53,200 Minnesota ........: (D) - (D) (D) - 255,930 Montana ..........: - - - (D) (D) 25,730 Ohio .............: - - - (D) - 95,800 Oregon ...........: - - (D) - - 333,050 Pennsylvania .....: (D) - (D) (D) (D) 87,430 Utah .............: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) 958,760 Washington .......: - - - - - 82,000 Wisconsin ........: (D) 7,500 (D) 115,000 3,900 1,268,760 : Other States 1/ ..: 103,970 6,090 43,100 32,180 15,480 39,080 : United States ....: 103,970 13,590 43,100 155,180 19,380 3,741,150 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - Represents zero. (D) Withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual operations. 1/ Other States include Indiana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, and some pelts from the above listed States that were not published to avoid disclosing individual operations. 2/ Published color classes may not add to the State total to avoid disclosing individual operations. Pelts Produced by Color Class - Selected States and United States: 2015 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ States : Black :Demi/Wild: Pastel :Sapphire :Blue Iris:Mahogany ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : number : Idaho ............: 129,000 10,000 8,000 14,500 (D) 193,000 Illinois .........: 68,000 - - (D) - (D) Iowa .............: 50,000 (D) (D) (D) (D) 37,000 Michigan .........: 44,000 - (D) - (D) (D) Minnesota ........: 100,000 27,000 (D) (D) (D) 78,000 Montana ..........: 3,700 (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) Ohio .............: 57,000 (D) - (D) (D) (D) Oregon ...........: 220,000 - (D) (D) 77,000 (D) Pennsylvania .....: 35,000 (D) (D) 9,000 17,000 (D) Utah .............: 310,000 34,000 (D) 41,000 2,200 395,000 Washington .......: 58,000 - (D) (D) (D) (D) Wisconsin ........: 780,000 (D) 34,000 33,000 129,000 135,000 : Other States 1/ ..: 9,000 8,280 68,900 17,980 53,220 58,840 : United States ....:1,863,700 79,280 110,900 115,480 278,420 896,840 :----------------------------------------------------------- States : Pearl :Lavender : Violet : White : Other :Total 2/ :----------------------------------------------------------- : number : Idaho ............: - (D) (D) (D) (D) 372,700 Illinois .........: (D) - - (D) - 98,700 Iowa .............: - - - (D) - 96,300 Michigan .........: - (D) (D) 8,000 - 60,250 Minnesota ........: - - - 11,500 - 265,520 Montana ..........: - - - (D) (D) 14,900 Ohio .............: - - - (D) - 77,800 Oregon ...........: - - (D) - - 332,900 Pennsylvania .....: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) 86,770 Utah .............: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) 933,880 Washington .......: - - - - - 71,800 Wisconsin ........: (D) 14,500 26,000 158,000 6,000 1,316,610 : Other States 1/ ..: 95,700 7,960 33,250 28,410 15,510 21,320 : United States ....: 95,700 22,460 59,250 205,910 21,510 3,749,450 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - Represents zero. (D) Withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual operations. 1/ Other States include New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, and some pelts from the above listed States that were not published to avoid disclosing individual operations. 2/ Published color classes may not add to the State total to avoid disclosing individual operations. Female Mink Bred to Produce Kits by Color Class - Selected States and United States: 2015 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ States : Black :Demi/Wild: Pastel :Sapphire :Blue Iris:Mahogany ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : number : Idaho ............: 58,000 1,700 2,100 5,000 (D) 40,000 Illinois .........: 18,000 - - (D) - (D) Iowa .............: 13,000 - (D) (D) (D) 11,500 Michigan .........: 12,000 - (D) (D) (D) 850 Minnesota ........: 17,000 5,000 (D) (D) (D) 14,500 Montana ..........: 970 (D) (D) - - 1,500 Ohio .............: 13,500 (D) - (D) (D) 4,600 Oregon ...........: 43,000 - (D) 2,700 14,000 (D) Pennsylvania .....: 7,000 (D) (D) 2,800 4,400 (D) Utah .............: 81,000 11,500 (D) 10,000 (D) 77,000 Washington .......: 11,500 - - - (D) (D) Wisconsin ........: 158,000 (D) 6,500 10,000 29,000 21,000 : Other States 1/ ..: 2,630 2,720 15,950 1,880 22,280 8,990 : United States ....: 435,600 20,920 24,550 32,380 69,680 179,940 :----------------------------------------------------------- States : Pearl :Lavender : Violet : White : Other :Total 2/ :----------------------------------------------------------- : number : Idaho ............: - (D) (D) (D) (D) 113,500 Illinois .........: (D) - (D) (D) - 25,670 Iowa .............: - - - (D) - 26,180 Michigan .........: - (D) (D) 1,800 - 17,550 Minnesota ........: - - - 4,200 - 51,210 Montana ..........: - - - (D) (D) 3,990 Ohio .............: - (D) - (D) - 20,250 Oregon ...........: - - 1,600 - - 66,910 Pennsylvania .....: (D) - (D) (D) (D) 19,320 Utah .............: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) 213,810 Washington .......: - - - - - 14,600 Wisconsin ........: - 4,400 (D) 34,000 1,600 268,690 : Other States 1/ ..: 16,980 2,240 9,180 6,770 2,860 7,020 : United States ....: 16,980 6,640 10,780 46,770 4,460 848,700 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - Represents zero. (D) Withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual operations. 1/ Other States include Indiana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, and some females bred from the above listed States that were not published to avoid disclosing individual operations. 2/ Published color classes may not add to the State total to avoid disclosing individual operations. Female Mink Bred to Produce Kits by Color Class - Selected States and United States: 2016 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ States : Black :Demi/Wild: Pastel :Sapphire :Blue Iris:Mahogany ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : number : Idaho ............: 28,000 1,600 3,000 3,300 - 41,000 Illinois .........: 14,000 - - - - (D) Iowa .............: 13,500 (D) (D) (D) (D) 10,000 Michigan .........: 12,500 - (D) - (D) (D) Minnesota ........: (D) 3,500 3,600 (D) (D) 13,500 Montana ..........: (D) (D) (D) (D) - (D) Ohio .............: 12,000 (D) - (D) (D) 2,900 Oregon ...........: 42,000 - (D) 2,300 13,000 (D) Pennsylvania .....: 5,500 (D) (D) 2,700 3,400 (D) Utah .............: 74,000 (D) (D) 10,500 710 74,000 Washington .......: 8,000 - - (D) (D) (D) Wisconsin ........: 156,000 (D) 9,000 8,500 25,000 15,500 : Other States 1/ ..: 20,400 14,320 12,520 2,570 11,360 10,400 : United States ....: 385,900 19,420 28,120 29,870 53,470 167,300 :----------------------------------------------------------- States : Pearl :Lavender : Violet : White : Other :Total 2/ :----------------------------------------------------------- : number : Idaho ............: - (D) (D) (D) (D) 81,220 Illinois .........: (D) - - (D) - 22,700 Iowa .............: - - - (D) - 26,760 Michigan .........: - (D) (D) 2,200 - 17,640 Minnesota ........: - - - 5,000 - 45,610 Montana ..........: - - - (D) (D) 3,780 Ohio .............: - (D) - (D) - 17,640 Oregon ...........: - - (D) - - 63,500 Pennsylvania .....: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) 16,070 Utah .............: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) 196,190 Washington .......: - - - - - 12,120 Wisconsin ........: - 5,000 7,500 27,000 (D) 254,190 : Other States 1/ ..: 16,640 2,750 6,600 9,010 3,280 11,640 : United States ....: 16,640 7,750 14,100 43,210 3,280 769,060 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - Represents zero. (D) Withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual operations. 1/ Other States include New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, and some females bred from the above listed States that were not published to avoid disclosing individual operations. 2/ Published color classes may not add to the State total to avoid disclosing individual operations. Statistical Methodology Survey Procedures: Mink production data are collected from early May through late May from all known producers. Individual NASS Field Offices maintain a list of all known mink producers and use known sources of producers to update their lists. All known mink producers are mailed a questionnaire and given adequate time to respond by mail. Those who do not respond by mail are telephoned or enumerated in person. Care is exercised to account for all operations. Major auction houses, which handle producer sales, provide mink pelt price data in June. Prices are collected at the point of first sale, before marketing costs are deducted. Estimation Procedures: All data are analyzed for unusual values. Data from each operation are compared to their own past operating profile and to trends from similar operations. Data for missing operations are estimated based on similar operations or historical data. Field offices prepare these estimates by using a combination of survey indications and historic trends. Individual State estimates are reviewed by the Agricultural Statistics Board for reasonableness. Revision Policy: Revisions to previous estimates are made to improve year-to- year and item-to-item relationships. Estimates for the previous year are subject to revision when current estimates are made. Estimates will also be reviewed after data from the five-year Census of Agriculture are available. No revisions will be made after that date. Reliability: Mink production estimates are based on a census of all known active producers and therefore, have no sampling variability. However, estimates are subject to errors such as omissions, duplication, mistakes in reporting, recording, and processing data. While these errors cannot be measured directly, they are minimized through strict quality control in the data collection process and a careful review of all reported data for consistency and reasonableness. To assist in evaluating the reliability of the estimates in this report, the "Root Mean Square Error" is shown for selected items in the following table. The "Root Mean Square Error" is a statistical measure based on past performance and is computed using the differences between first and final estimates. The "Root Mean Square Error" for mink pelts produced over the past 10 years is 0.5 percent. This means that chances are 2 out of 3 that the final estimate will not be above or below the current estimate of 3.75 million pelts by more than 0.5 percent. Chances are 9 out of 10 that the difference will not exceed 0.9 percent. Reliability of Mink Estimates [[Based on data for the past ten years]] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Root mean : 90 percent : Difference between first and latest estimate : square error : confidence : : : : : : : level :------------------------------------------------------------- Item : : : : : : Years : : : : : :------------------------------- : : : Average :Smallest : Largest : Below latest : Above latest -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : percent percent -------- 1,000 ------- ----- number ---- : : Pelts produced ...............: 0.5 0.9 10 0 34 6 2 : Females bred .................: 0.9 1.7 4 0 15 5 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Information Contacts Listed below are the commodity specialists in the Livestock Branch of the National Agricultural Statistics Service to contact for additional information. E-mail inquiries may be sent to nass@nass.usda.gov Dan Kerestes, Chief, Livestock Branch ...................................... (202) 720-3570 Bruce Boess, Head, Poultry and Specialty Commodities Section ............... (202) 720-4447 Aaron Cosgrove - Egg Products, Poultry Slaughter, Trout Production ...... (202) 690-3237 Alissa Cowell-Mytar - Cold Storage ...................................... (202) 720-4751 Heidi Gleich - Broiler Hatchery, Chicken Hatchery ....................... (202) 720-0585 Tom Kruchten - Census of Aquaculture .................................... (202) 690-4870 Kim Linonis - Layers, Eggs .............................................. (202) 690-8632 Sammy Neal - Catfish Production, Mink, Turkey Hatchery, Turkeys Raised .. (202) 720-3244 Joshua O'Rear - Honey, Honey Bee Colonies................................ 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