This post originally appeared at https://www.badgerinstitute.org/badger-state-dominates-plummeting-us-mink-production/

Mink pelt output is shrinking, but new markets may be on the rise 

At estate sales on Wisconsin family farms, you sometimes find what look like rustic surf boards for Barbie dolls.

These small wooden boards were once used to stretch and dry mink pelts, a symbol of an industry Wisconsin has long dominated. But while Wisconsin accounted for 53 percent of the nation’s total mink pelt production in 2023, that output was down 10 percent from the previous year, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Wisconsin produced roughly 1.3 million pelts in 2015 and just 514,000 pelts last year, Greg Bussler, state statistician with the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, said. The 973,000 mink pelts produced in the U.S. last year, with an estimated value of $33.1 million, is down 28% from the previous year, according to the USDA.

The use of fur in fashion until recently had been declining for decades. Animal rights activists, who have for decades conducted nighttime raids “liberating” thousands of mink into the wild, have convinced most of the big fashion houses to forgo natural fur. Many major retailers followed their lead.

Last year, California became the first state to enact a statewide ban on the sale of new animal fur products.

“There’s been a continuous decline in pelt production,” in Wisconsin and nationwide, Bussler said. “The mink industry’s facing hurdles from animal rights groups and just less demand.”

“The decline has had a significant impact on family farms,” says Challis Hobbs, executive director of Fur Commission USA, a national, non-profit association representing U.S. mink farmers. “Unfortunately, some farms have had to reduce production, and others have shut down entirely, ending multi-generational legacies of raising some of the highest-quality pelts in the world.” 

Demand for fur, however, is still high in Asia, particularly China.

Ninety percent of the mink pelts produced by the Zimbal Mink Farm in Sheboygan Falls go to the Chinese market, Valerie Zimbal says. The fifth-generation operation run by her parents, brothers and cousins, currently raises 200,000 mink in six locations and employs around 65 people. Zimbal’s title is marketing director.

There are signs that fur may be making a comeback here.

In March, Vogue reported that celebrities like Kendall Jenner, Ice Spice, Hailey Bieber, Dua Lipa and Pharrell Williams are publicly appearing in fur or adding it to their clothing lines. Gen Z and millennials, Vogue said, are wearing fur coats “to incarnate the so-called mob-wife aesthetic.”

A month earlier, the New York  Post said, “Gen Z and celebs are rocking real fur again — and they don’t care if you hate them for it.”

“It’s all about supply and demand, and right now, we’re seeing fur make a comeback in U.S. fashion,” says Hobbs. “Take the ‘mob wife’ aesthetic on TikTok, where wearing fur is a key element. Many U.S. furriers and retailers have reported a substantial increase in sales this past retail season, which tells us that the interest is real and growing.

“Farmers have been selling nearly 100% of their pelts,” he adds, “with prices rising at the most recent global auctions this month.” 

The spike in interest prompted a predictable backlash from animal rights activists, who stepped up a decades-long assault on the industry, including California’s fur ban and an amendment to a bipartisan 2022 U.S. House bill to prohibit mink farming nationwide (it did not advance).

In August of 2023, activists claiming to be with the Animal Liberation Front took credit for releasing 3,000 mink from the Olsen Fur Farm in Lincoln, Wisconsin. The progeny of mink can be spotted near the farms where they were illegally released all over Wisconsin.

“We’re bringing money into our state, into our country, and we’re creating jobs,” Zimbal says. “Why would somebody want to put us out of business?”

In Wisconsin, the mink industry supports roughly 250 full-time and more than 500 seasonal employees in rural communities, Hobbs says.

There are economic and environmental benefits from mink production, he says. Unlike faux fur made primarily from microplastics or acetone, real fur is biodegradable and non-toxic. Mink devour 100 million pounds of food industry by-products like cheese, poultry and beef every year, he says.

Mink farmers are expected to comply with all state, federal, and local laws and environmental regulations, ensuring that mink farming is done responsibly and ethically, Zimbal says.

 Mink are well cared for, well fed and vaccinated. Mink farms undergo third-party inspections. And operators follow American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) guidelines when euthanizing the animals, Zimbal says. 

Beginning in the 1600s, Native American and French traders captured animals and sold pelts in Wisconsin to accommodate an insatiable European appetite for warm and fashionable fur.

Major fur trade posts were established at Prairie du Chien and Green Bay. The Wisconsin and Fox rivers served as a “highway of commerce” between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River, said Lee Grady, senior reference archivist at the Wisconsin Historical Society.

“The fur trade was one of the first economic drivers of European interest in this part of the country and in Wisconsin,” said Grady. “It was the foundation of the economic relationship between the Native Americans who were here and the French who arrived in the 17^th century.”

With an ideal climate for raising mink, Wisconsin quickly became the leading producer in the nation when commercial fur farming began in the 20^th century, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society. Today, Wisconsin harvests nearly four times more mink pelts than Utah, the second highest pelt producing state.

When her great-grandfather returned from Korea in 1954, and mink was the ultimate fashion statement for women, Robert Zimbal and his new bride, Audrey, converted the family bean farm, Valerie Zimbal says.

From a wedding gift of five pastel mink grew a farm that at one time raised 400,000 mink at once. The Zimbals have buyers all over the world, she says. Those buyers run family businesses just like the Zimbals, she says.

Hobbs grew up and worked on his family’s mink farm, too.

“It’s a special experience to work side-by-side with your father, mother, siblings, grandmother, cousins, and other family members,” he says. “Mink farming has always been a part of that family connection, and it’s something we all take pride in. It creates a bond that lasts a lifetime.”

Michael Jahr is former Vice President at the Badger Institute, current CEO of Jahr Productions, and Producer + Director of Liberty at Stake: The Joshua Glover Story.

Any use or reproduction of Badger Institute articles or photographs requires prior written permission. To request permission to post articles on a website or print copies for distribution, contact Badger Institute President Mike Nichols at mike@badgerinstitute.org or 262-389-8239.

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