Mink ISSN: 1949-1549 Released July 9, 2010, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Special Note NASS is in the process of modifying report layouts in order to improve readability. This is the first issue produced using the new layout. This report issue is published using both layouts but future issues will only be produced using this layout. The previous layout is available on the NASS website: http://www.nass.usda.gov. Pelt Production Up 1 Percent Mink pelt production in the United States in 2009 totaled 2.86 million pelts, up 1 percent from 2008. Wisconsin, the largest mink producing State, produced 886,100 pelts. Utah, the second largest producing State, produced 613,500 pelts. The number of pelts by color class as a percent of the total U.S. production in 2009 is as follows: Black at 52 percent, Mahogany at 23 percent, Blue Iris at 10 percent, Demi/Wild at 4 percent, and Sapphire at 4 percent. The remaining color classes accounted for 7 percent. Value of pelts produced during the 2009 crop year was $186 million, up 58 percent from $117 million a year ago. The average price per pelt for the 2009 crop year was $65.10, up $23.50 from $41.60 in 2008. Female mink bred to produce kits in 2010 totaled 670,200, down 1 percent from the previous year. Percent of total females bred to produce kits in 2010 by color class is as follows: Black at 50 percent, Mahogany at 24 percent, Blue Iris at 9 percent, Sapphire at 5 percent, and Demi/Wild at 4 percent. The remaining color classes accounted for 8 percent. Mink farms producing pelts in 2009 totaled 278, up 1 percent from a year ago. Mink Pelts Produced and Females Bred by Color Class - United States: 2008-2010 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Pelts produced : Females bred to produce kits :----------------------------------------------------------------------- Color class : 2008 : 2009 : 2009 : 2010 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : number : Black .........: 1,515,300 1,494,500 348,600 338,400 Demi/Wild .....: 114,600 123,900 26,200 27,600 Pastel ........: 61,100 56,200 19,800 18,300 Sapphire ......: 93,600 104,400 28,400 35,900 Blue Iris .....: 288,000 282,400 68,100 58,600 Mahogany ......: 602,600 663,500 149,200 159,700 Pearl .........: 42,700 57,100 12,800 12,600 Lavender ......: 3,700 4,400 1,600 1,700 Violet ........: 36,800 14,500 5,200 4,000 White .........: 50,100 48,800 11,600 11,800 : Other .........: 12,200 6,000 2,700 1,600 : United States .: 2,820,700 2,855,700 674,200 670,200 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mink Farms, Pelts Produced, Average Price, and Value - United States: 1990-2009 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Mink : Pelts :Average marketing: Value of Year : farms : produced : price : mink pelts --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : number number dollars dollars : 1990 ..........: 771 3,365,700 25.50 85,825,350 1991 ..........: 683 3,268,200 21.90 71,573,580 1992 ..........: 571 2,900,000 23.80 69,020,000 1993 ..........: 523 2,620,300 34.10 89,352,230 1994 ..........: 484 2,623,200 33.00 86,565,600 1995 ..........: 478 2,803,100 53.10 148,844,610 1996 ..........: 449 2,783,200 35.30 98,246,960 1997 ..........: 452 2,993,300 33.10 99,078,230 1998 ..........: 438 2,938,100 24.80 72,864,880 1999 ..........: 398 2,812,500 33.70 94,781,250 : 2000 ..........: 350 2,666,100 34.00 90,647,400 2001 ..........: 329 2,565,300 33.50 85,937,550 2002 ..........: 324 2,607,300 30.60 79,783,380 2003 ..........: 305 2,549,000 40.10 102,214,900 2004 ..........: 296 2,558,100 47.10 120,486,510 2005 ..........: 275 2,637,800 60.90 160,642,020 2006 ..........: 279 2,858,800 48.40 138,365,920 2007 ..........: 283 2,828,200 65.70 185,812,740 2008 ..........: 274 2,820,700 41.60 117,341,120 2009 ..........: 278 2,855,700 65.10 185,906,070 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pelts Produced by Color Class - Selected States and United States: 2008 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ States : Black :Demi/Wild: Pastel :Sapphire :Blue Iris:Mahogany ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : number : Idaho ............: 98,000 11,000 2,800 8,500 12,500 95,000 Illinois .........: 51,000 (D) - - (D) (D) Iowa .............: 108,000 (D) (D) (D) 9,000 (D) Michigan .........: 25,000 - (D) (D) (D) (D) Minnesota ........: 75,000 31,000 1,700 (D) 46,000 73,000 Montana ..........: 13,500 (D) - - (D) (D) Ohio .............: 46,000 (D) (D) (D) (D) 24,000 Oregon ...........: 158,000 (D) - 12,000 85,000 (D) Pennsylvania .....: 29,000 (D) (D) 10,500 11,500 500 South Dakota .....: (D) (D) (D) - - (D) Utah .............: 235,000 (D) (D) 8,500 6,000 205,000 Washington .......: 57,000 (D) - (D) 17,000 - Wisconsin ........: 600,000 (D) 10,000 38,000 93,000 116,000 : Other States 1/ ..: 19,800 72,600 46,600 16,100 8,000 89,100 : United States ....:1,515,300 114,600 61,100 93,600 288,000 602,600 :----------------------------------------------------------- : Pearl :Lavender : Violet : White : Other :Total 2/ :----------------------------------------------------------- : number : Idaho ............: - (D) - - (D) 228,100 Illinois .........: - - (D) (D) - 64,700 Iowa .............: (D) - (D) (D) - 154,600 Michigan .........: - - - 6,000 - 44,100 Minnesota ........: (D) - (D) 7,000 - 236,400 Montana ..........: - - - - - 23,400 Ohio .............: - - - - - 79,200 Oregon ...........: - - 2,900 - - 287,600 Pennsylvania .....: (D) - (D) (D) 2,400 63,900 South Dakota .....: (D) - - - - 76,000 Utah .............: (D) (D) (D) (D) (D) 549,700 Washington .......: - - - - - 92,500 Wisconsin ........: (D) 3,500 (D) 19,000 3,500 908,100 : Other States 1/ ..: 42,700 200 33,900 18,100 6,300 12,400 : United States ....: 42,700 3,700 36,800 50,100 12,200 2,820,700 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - Represents zero. (D) Withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual operations. 1/ Other States also includes 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. Pelts Produced by Color Class - Selected States and United States: 2009 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ States : Black :Demi/Wild: Pastel :Sapphire :Blue Iris:Mahogany ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ : number : Idaho ............: 107,000 13,500 3,400 9,500 (D) 108,000 Illinois .........: 56,000 (D) - - (D) (D) Iowa .............: 79,000 (D) (D) (D) 6,500 (D) Michigan .........: 29,000 - (D) (D) (D) 3,400 Minnesota ........: 88,000 35,000 (D) (D) 55,000 80,000 Montana ..........: (D) (D) - - (D) (D) Ohio .............: 36,000 (D) (D) (D) (D) 21,000 Oregon ...........: 158,000 (D) - 11,000 79,000 (D) Pennsylvania .....: 28,000 (D) (D) 5,500 11,000 (D) South Dakota .....: (D) (D) (D) - - (D) Utah .............: 225,000 37,000 (D) (D) 7,500 285,000 Washington .......: 69,000 (D) - (D) (D) - Wisconsin ........: 585,000 (D) (D) 55,000 97,000 97,000 : Other States 1/ ..: 34,500 38,400 52,800 23,400 26,400 69,100 : United States ....:1,494,500 123,900 56,200 104,400 282,400 663,500 :----------------------------------------------------------- : Pearl :Lavender : Violet : White : Other :Total 2/ :----------------------------------------------------------- : number : Idaho ............: - (D) - - (D) 251,500 Illinois .........: (D) - (D) (D) (D) 71,100 Iowa .............: (D) (D) (D) (D) - 114,800 Michigan .........: - - - 5,500 - 45,300 Minnesota ........: - - - 6,000 - 267,200 Montana ..........: - - - - - 22,500 Ohio .............: - - - - - 67,900 Oregon ...........: - - (D) - - 270,100 Pennsylvania .....: (D) - - (D) (D) 57,300 South Dakota .....: (D) - - - - 81,500 Utah .............: (D) - - (D) - 613,500 Washington .......: - - - - - 93,500 Wisconsin ........: (D) 3,300 (D) 24,000 4,100 886,100 : Other States 1/ ..: 57,100 1,100 14,500 13,300 1,900 13,400 : United States ....: 57,100 4,400 14,500 48,800 6,000 2,855,700 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - Represents zero. (D) Withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual operations. 1/ Other States also includes 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. Female Mink Bred to Produce Kits by Color Class - Selected States and United States: 2009 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- States : Black :Demi/Wild : Pastel : Sapphire :Blue Iris : Mahogany ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : number : Idaho ............: 27,000 2,300 1,000 2,600 (D) 22,000 Illinois .........: 16,000 (D) - - (D) (D) Iowa .............: 17,500 (D) (D) (D) 2,500 (D) Michigan .........: 7,500 - (D) (D) (D) (D) Minnesota ........: 18,500 7,500 (D) (D) 12,000 19,000 Montana ..........: (D) (D) - - (D) (D) Ohio .............: 11,500 (D) (D) (D) (D) 6,000 Oregon ...........: 34,000 (D) - 2,400 16,500 (D) Pennsylvania .....: 6,000 (D) (D) 2,800 2,900 (D) South Dakota .....: (D) (D) (D) - - (D) Utah .............: 61,000 (D) (D) (D) 1,800 63,000 Washington .......: 14,500 (D) - (D) 2,900 - Wisconsin ........: 126,000 (D) 3,100 11,500 25,000 23,000 : Other States 1/ ..: 9,100 16,400 15,700 9,100 4,500 16,200 : United States ....: 348,600 26,200 19,800 28,400 68,100 149,200 :------------------------------------------------------------------ : Pearl : Lavender : Violet : White : Other : Total 2/ :------------------------------------------------------------------ : number : Idaho ............: - (D) - - (D) 57,800 Illinois .........: - - (D) (D) 100 19,500 Iowa .............: (D) (D) (D) (D) - 28,300 Michigan .........: - - - 1,200 - 10,900 Minnesota ........: - - (D) (D) (D) 60,300 Montana ..........: - - - - - 6,000 Ohio .............: - - - - - 20,400 Oregon ...........: - - 500 - - 58,400 Pennsylvania .....: (D) - (D) (D) (D) 15,300 South Dakota .....: (D) - - - - 18,200 Utah .............: (D) - (D) (D) (D) 157,300 Washington .......: - - - - - 19,900 Wisconsin ........: - 1,200 (D) 4,400 1,100 198,200 : Other States 1/ ..: 12,800 400 4,700 6,000 1,500 3,700 : United States ....: 12,800 1,600 5,200 11,600 2,700 674,200 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Represents zero. (D) Withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual operations. 1/ Other States also includes 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. Female Mink Bred to Produce Kits by Color Class - Selected States and United States: 2010 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- States : Black :Demi/Wild : Pastel : Sapphire :Blue Iris : Mahogany ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : number : Idaho ............: 28,000 2,400 800 2,200 (D) 25,000 Illinois .........: 15,000 (D) - - (D) (D) Iowa .............: 17,500 - (D) (D) 1,700 (D) Michigan .........: 7,500 - (D) (D) (D) 900 Minnesota ........: 11,000 7,500 (D) 100 4,800 20,000 Montana ..........: 1,400 (D) - - (D) (D) Ohio .............: 8,500 (D) (D) (D) (D) 7,500 Oregon ...........: 32,000 (D) - 2,600 17,000 (D) Pennsylvania .....: 6,500 (D) (D) 2,600 3,700 (D) South Dakota .....: (D) (D) (D) - - (D) Utah .............: 65,000 11,000 (D) (D) 4,100 70,000 Washington .......: 16,000 - - (D) (D) (D) Wisconsin ........: 125,000 (D) 3,600 22,000 20,000 16,500 : Other States 1/ ..: 5,000 6,700 13,900 6,400 7,300 19,800 : United States ....: 338,400 27,600 18,300 35,900 58,600 159,700 :------------------------------------------------------------------ : Pearl : Lavender : Violet : White : Other : Total 2/ :------------------------------------------------------------------ : number : Idaho ............: - (D) - - (D) 61,000 Illinois .........: (D) - (D) (D) - 18,400 Iowa .............: (D) (D) (D) (D) - 23,500 Michigan .........: - - - 1,100 - 11,100 Minnesota ........: - - - (D) - 45,800 Montana ..........: - - - - - 5,800 Ohio .............: - - - - - 19,300 Oregon ...........: - - (D) - - 57,500 Pennsylvania .....: (D) - - (D) - 15,900 South Dakota .....: (D) - - - - 18,200 Utah .............: (D) - - (D) (D) 170,600 Washington .......: - - - - - 21,400 Wisconsin ........: - 1,400 (D) 6,500 1,100 199,000 : Other States 1/ ..: 12,600 300 4,000 4,200 500 2,700 : United States ....: 12,600 1,700 4,000 11,800 1,600 670,200 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Represents zero. (D) Withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual operations. 1/ Other States also includes 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. Statistical Methodology Survey Procedures: Mink production data are collected from late March through early April 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 July. 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 0.4 percent. This means that chances are 2 out of 3 that the final estimate will not be above or below the current estimate of 2.86 million pelts by more than 0.4 percent. Chances are 9 out of 10 that the difference will not exceed 0.8 percent. Reliability of Mink Estimates [Based on data for the past 10 years] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : : : Difference between :Number of years : Root : 90 percent : first and latest :--------------- : mean : confidence : estimates : First : First Item :square : level :-------------------------: above : below : error : :Average:Smallest:Largest :latest :latest ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- :percent percent 1,000 ------ 1,000 ------ number : : Pelts produced : 0.4 0.8 22 6 0 34 2 5 : Females bred ..: 0.9 1.7 11 4 0 15 2 7 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 Doug Bounds - Poultry Slaughter, Turkey Hatchery, Turkeys Raised ................... (202) 690-3237 David Colwell - Cold Storage ....................................................... (202) 720-8784 Chris Hawthorn - Catfish Processing, Catfish Production, Trout Production, Census of Aquaculture, Egg Products, Mink .. (202) 720-0585 Kim Linonis - Layers, Eggs ......................................................... (202) 690-8632 Troy Marshall - Broiler Hatchery, Chicken Hatchery, Honey .......................... 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