mi-press-releases

News Release
NR-12-45
July 9, 2012

U.S. Department of Agriculture
National Agricultural Statistics Service
Michigan Field Office
Michigan Department of Agriculture
Post Office Box 30239
Lansing, MI  48909-6248

Phone:      (517) 324-5300
Facsimile:  (517) 324-5299
E-mail:     nass-mi@nass.usda.gov
Web site:   www.nass.usda.gov

Jay V. Johnson, Director

Michigan Mink Production Increases

Mink pelt production in Michigan was 43,200 pelts in 2011, up 2,700 from 
2010, according to Jay Johnson, Director of the USDA, NASS, Michigan Field 
Office.  Female mink bred to produce kits in 2012 totaled 13,400, up 1,650 
from 2011. 

Mink pelt production in the United States in 2011 totaled 3.09 million pelts, 
up 9 percent from 2010. Wisconsin, the largest mink producing State, produced 
1,050,580 pelts. Utah, the second largest producing State, produced 698,960 
pelts.

By color class, the number of pelts as a percent of the total U.S. production 
in 2011 was as follows: Black at 52 percent, Mahogany at 25 percent, and Blue 
Iris at 9 percent. The remaining color classes accounted for 14 percent.  
Mink pelts produced during the 2011 crop year were valued at $292 million, up 
25 percent from $233 million a year ago.  The average price per pelt for the 
2011 crop year was $94.30, up $12.40 from $81.90 in 2010.

Nationally, female mink bred to produce kits in 2012 totaled 769,970, up 9 
percent from the previous year. Percent of total females bred to produce kits 
in 2012 by color class is as follows: Black at 51 percent, Mahogany at 25 
percent, and Blue Iris at 9 percent. The remaining color classes accounted 
for 14 percent. 

There were 268 mink farms producing pelts in 2011, up 1 percent from a year 
ago.