One little-known but extremely important part of Utah's agriculture is its fur industry.
Utah mink farmers say they produced about 1 million mink pelts last year worth nearly $40 million, nearly double the number of pelts produced in 1987.Not only is Utah second in the United States for the number of pelts it produces, but members of the Utah Fur Breeders Co-op claim, proudly, that Utah mink pelts are the finest in the world - more luxurious and more expensive than any produced in Russia, Canada or other fur producing states in America.
The value of Utah's mink industry is more, though, than just numbers on a balance sheet or on a financial ledger. It is the sum total of the livelihoods of more than 300 families and thousands of employees who work on several hundred mink ranches in the state.
Some 300 mink farmers belong to the Utah Fur Breeders Co-op. A spokesman from the organization, Ken Durrant, who raises about 1,500 mink on his ranch in Morgan, said the cooperative hires its own veterinarian and its own dietician to insure that the state's mink are as healthy as possible and as happy as good food, climate controlled surroundings and rigid cleanliness standards can make them. Mink are vaccinated regularly to protect them from disease and are checked constantly to ensure they are healthy.
Mink offspring, or kits, are usually born in April and are harvested in December. Durrant said Utah's mink ranches hire as many as 15,000 part-time employees during peak periods of production during the year, such as in the breeding season in March; when the kits are separated in August; and during harvest time in November and December.
"Not only are the mink kept as healthy and happy as is humanly possible, they are killed as humanely as possible, with a quick-acting gas - either carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide," Durrant said.
A mink kept for breeding may live to be 2 to 5 years old and can produce as many as 10 kits in a litter but usually produces, on the average, three to five offspring.
Minks kept for breeding purposes have been bred for their superior fur and cost hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars. Mink ranches - considering the land they are built on and the buildings, fixtures and utilities needed for their operation - are huge investments worth hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars.
Lifetimes of effort, ingenuity, skill and no small amount of money have gone into Utah's mink ranches and have made Utah a famous name throughout the world's fur industry.
Mink is currently America's primary fur animal raised for its pelt. There are a few foxes being raised in Utah, but their total number is probably only about 1,000, Durrant said.
Mink have been kept in captivity as far back as 100 years but were not raised in large numbers until the 1930s. Numbers increased until the 1960s when more than 8 million pelts were produced each year in the United States on more than 5,000 mink ranches. After that, fur farmers say, the supply of mink exceeded the demand and prices dropped below the cost of production.
In Utah, there were nearly 350 mink ranches in the 1960s, and they produced nearly half a million pelts. By 1973, the number of mink ranches in the United States had fallen to 1,300. Those that went out of business were primarily the small producers or hobbyists.
At the same time, the average production of mink farms increased from 1,800 to 2,900 pelts a year. Currently, there are about 2,000 mink farms in the United States producing about 4 million pelts. In Utah, most mink ranches are in five north central counties - Morgan, Summit, Salt Lake, Cache and Utah.
Prices paid for mink pelts have been on a roller coaster for years. The average marketing price for pelts in 1982 was $28.90. That price jumped to $41.30 in 1986 and is about $38 currently and heading downward.
It takes about 50 mink pelts to make a coat, Durrant said. "As with most areas of production agriculture, the farmer gets the least share of the consumer's dollar. It costs us about $32 to $38 to produce one pelt. If we make $10 a pelt we feel happy. We are not often happy, unfortunately.
"Most mink coats are manufactured in New York City and sell for $8,000 to $10,000. More and more coats are being made in Japan and Korea, and these Pacific Rim countries are becoming big customers for Utah's furs."