How do you catch an infection from a person that is not infected?

False negative tests.
You know-like fake news.

Boco could catch it, he can catch anything.

I dont want to catch that.

True. He is a REAL TRAPPER.

Funny how people get snarky when frustrated.

There won't be any BOOM when It comes to wild mink. Ranch mink will still be what Is wanted. Wild mink are very small compared to ranch mink and It's very hard to get a consistent match color wise with wild mink.

Boco- There are far more false positives going on than false negatives...

They pay better. I bet if they were charged for them, there would be a lot less.

Is anyone concerned that when FHA is gone that may be the end of competative auctions as a marketing option?

Yes and not too cranked on just one auction house! Sounds like they are on good financial footings but so did NAFA. Would like to see another auction house in the game though, competition keeps everyone honest.

Would think there's enough furs harvested in North America for two players in the auction business. Not including GFW because there business is completely different than auction formats.

State auctions getting together and making a multi state auction to dip their toes in the water?
Thompson fur table and some Saskatchewan/BC associations trying out a larger format?

Not going to be a full blown auction house but think there is room for some of the smaller/regional players to expand. Its how FHA started.

They don't need my product. It is not selling. They need product they can sell, that makes them money. Trappers burying them under product they cannot sell or lose money on does them no good. It is what happened last year. Tell trappers, "Please don't send us those" For what good that will do.

I think everyone should quit trapping, except for me, for the foreseeable future, I'll let you know when to start. If you can't do that take your fur and make hats or mittens and wear them or give away to your family. That should clear up this back log and fur will shine again.

They don't need my product. It is not selling. They need product they can sell, that makes them money. Trappers burying them under product they cannot sell or lose money on does them no good. It is what happened last year. Tell trappers, "Please don't send us those" For what good that will do.
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Actually it was NAFA said not to send fur.
FHA responded that they would take all the fur Nafa didnt want-and they got their wish in spades,lol.

It sure seems like if ranch mink were out of the picture, wild mink would be more valuable.


I understand that ranch mink are more desirable. Uniform size, color, and availability. I get it.

I am only saying that if ranch mink aren’t available, anyone wanting to work with mink would have to go after wild mink. Since they’re not as uniform, it would seem as though the good pelts would be worth good money.


Can someone help me understand how ranch mink “helps” wild mink prices, because I just don’t see how it could. If ranch fur wasn’t available, wild fur would have to be used. Why would someone want wild mink pelts when they could get a more consistent product with ranch mink?

LOL
My thought exactly!

My understanding is that for commercial purposes, wild fur is a cheaper alternative to ranch fur. So, a vibrant ranch fur market simply means that the demand and therefore price of wild fur will rise along with ranch fur. When the price of ranch mink is high, so goes the prices of the alternative wild fur (muskrats and wild mink).

So what happens when theres only 18 million hitting the market as opposed to 100 million.? I dont think anyone really knows the answer, its gonna be another interesting year.

The trouble now a days is with the chinese.
A wild mink garment when made by an italian master fur designer is a much more beautiful,durable,and valuable product than a compareable ranch mink garment.
The chinese do not have the skills of the italian master furriers and likely never will as the masters never mass produced garments on an assembly line like the chinese do with ranch fur.
When working with ranch fur it is all the same-no matching skills involved in the manufacture or design of individual garments-mass production.The walmart fur coat-thousands all identical.Wild mink is one of the most difficult fur to work with because of the many different sections of wild mink.But the end product when put together by the masters is somewhat a work of art.And the price reflects that.
The chinese when working with fur are the same as when they work with anything else-mass production of as much as possible with the least amount of work possible as cheap as possible with little skill involved.

There are still a few italian masters at work in the high fashon end of the business but no one wants to pay the high prices that well matched wild fur garments demand,when they can get a cheap ranch fur product from china.

Many products have gone downhill in the same way when the chinese start cranking stuff out en masse as cheap as possible.

Is the fur trade like a alcoholic? You have to hit rock bottom before you recover?