Fur Industry Still Strong in Wisconsin
Friday, July 26th, 2019 -- 9:47 AM
(Wisconsin Ag Connection) -The fur industry in Wisconsin continues to be strong.The latest numbers on mink production indicate that the state led the U.S. at 971,600 million pelts during 2018, about 14 percent less than the previous year's harvest. Nonetheless, Wisconsin's production still accounted for 31 percent of the nation's total pelt output. The number of females bred in Wisconsin to produce kits during the past year fell 18 percent at 217,500. Pelts produced in 2018 by color class were: Black at 64 percent, White at 13 percent, Blue Iris at 7 percent, and Sapphire at 4 percent. The remaining color classes accounted for 12 percent.
The report no longer indicates how many farms each state has, but Wisconsin led the nation in that category several years ago with around 70. Nationally, mink pelt production during 2018 totaled 3.10 million pelts, down nine percent from the year earlier. Females bred to produce kits totaled 658,000, down 15 percent from a year ago. The U.S. value of pelts produced during the crop year was $82.6 million, down about a third from 2017 levels.
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