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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 7, 2015)
12A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, APRIL 7, 2015 Mink: Industry represents tiny niche in U.S. agriculture Continued from Page 1A Sustainable farming $120 U.S. mink prices $100 † (Price per pelt/U.S. dollars*) But mink farmers see irony *Based on USDA reports for the previous year’s production. in the bull’s-eye on their oper- † Fur Commission USA estimate. ations, even as they heed Fly- 80 nn’s warnings to install infra- red alarms or improve fencing around their farms. Activists are willing to commit felonies to put mink farms out of busi- 40 $25.50 ness in the name of Mother $56.30: Down Nature, but mink farmers ar- 46.3% from 2013 gue the fur trade is perhaps as sustainable as any industry in Source: Fur Commission USA John O’Connell and Alan Kenaga/Capital Press agriculture. 0 For example, mink are 1990 2000 2010 2014 raised on agricultural waste products — keeping spent hens, off-grade eggs, unus- DEOH FKHHVH ¿VK JXWV EHHI byproducts and other protein VRXUFHVRXWRIODQG¿OOV(YHQ minks’ manure and carcasses are recycled. Digesters fueled by mink manure produce power in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Mink carcasses yield one of the best oils for pre- serving leather and tires, and are used as crab bait. “It is widely used, and a lot of people do seek it out,” said John Corbin, chairman of the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission. Most of Mount Angel mink farmer Joe Ruef’s mink car- FDVVHV JR WR FUDE ¿VKHUPHQ Ruef fertilizes his grass seed, corn, wild rice and pumpkin ¿HOGVZLWKPLQNPDQXUHDQG mixes it with bark and other ingredients for a compost sold by local nurseries. Ruef mixes his own feed, relying heavily on salmon and KHUULQJUHPDLQVIURP¿VKSUR cessors. “I joke that we’re green- MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI — EO Media Group er than a lot of the guys who think they’re green because Joe Ruef holds a mink at his farm in Mount Angel. they drive a Prius in Port- California that prepare, store erative provides its suppliers land,” Ruef said. and ship agricultural by- with income for waste prod- Agriculture’s recycler products such as trout, beef ucts they’d otherwise have to Wisconsin is the top spleens and livers and poultry pay to remove. mink-producing state, but innards. “It’s kind of a double bo- Utah boasts the most mink The cooperative also buys nus for those farmers and farms and the largest U.S. about 3 million pounds per ranchers,” Falco said. mink food cooperative. year of off-grade pet food Though the cooperative is The Fur Breeders Agri- from Utah and California strictly a food supplier, even cultural Cooperative supplies manufacturers, although the it hasn’t escaped the notice of 131 ranchers in Utah and pet food industry also com- the animal rights movement. (DVWHUQ ,GDKR PL[LQJ DERXW petes with the cooperative ,Q DFWLYLVWV VHW ¿UH WR 130 million pounds of feed when it purchases beef by- one of its buildings. No one per year. products on the open market. was injured, and the arsonists Mink are bred in early A lunch meat supplier were prosecuted, Falco said. March and born during early sells the cooperative 10,000- Mink’s association May. The busiest seasons for 20,000 pounds per day of Fur Commission USA, the cooperative are summer waste and product no longer and fall, when the mink grow ¿W IRU KXPDQ FRQVXPSWLRQ funded by a 15-cent assess- to full size. The cooperative buys corn ment on each U.S. mink pelt, “The mink require a lot of and wheat from Intermoun- DGPLQLVWHUV D KXPDQH FHUWL¿ protein,” said Chris Falco, the tain Farmers Association, cation program, whose partic- cooperative’s general manag- blending the grain with sup- ipants voluntarily agree to ex- er. “Here in Utah, because we plemental vitamins and min- ceed minimum requirements don’t have any large sources erals. It also contracts directly for cage density, inspections of any one product, we use a with cheese plants and egg and veterinary care. variety of products.” Whelan, the commission’s producers for their by-prod- The cooperative employs ucts and with Amalgamated executive director, said about 55 workers at its various lo- Sugar for beet pulp. 95 percent of U.S. mink come cations, including Utah plants Founded in 1939 to pre- IURPFHUWL¿HGRSHUDWLRQV for mixing rations in Logan vent competition for food “We started behind the and Midvale and plants in sources among area mink pro- HLJKWEDOO´:KHODQVDLG³(Y Washington state, Idaho and ducers, Falco said the coop- eryone thought we were a cru- MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI — EO Media Group Joe Ruef discusses the manure collected from his farm in Mount Angel. Todd Hawkes, manager of the Fur Breeders Ag- ricultural Cooper- ative mixing plant in Logan, Utah, watches as water is added to meal in the process of mixing a batch of mink feed. JOHN O’CONNELL EO Media Group el industry, so we had to come out stronger than what the minimums were.” Whelan admits the mink industry is often reluctant to tout its own virtues. “We have some very violent and criminal detractors,” Whel- an said. “I want to say what a great business we’re in, but I don’t want anyone to get hurt.” (LJKW FHQWV RI WKH DVVHVV ment per pelt goes to re- search, such as a recent study concluding infrared lights on alarm systems don’t disrupt mink breeding, contrary to the beliefs of many mink farmers. Whelan said U.S. mink prices have been strong for the past decade, with a few “hiccups,” and available pelts have consistently sold out. Fur prices reached record highs in 2013, when the aver- age pelt price was about $100. The price surge prompted the Chinese to double their pro- duction to nearly 40 million pelts. Prices plummeted to about $50 per pelt in 2014 due to overproduction and a mild winter in China that reduced the demand for mink coats. An economic meltdown in Russia also caused demand there to tumble. The U.S. sold about 3.9 million pelts from the 2013 crop in 2014, Whelan said. Less than halfway through the current auction season, Whel- an said prices are up about 20 percent from last year, though Dog park: ‘This isn’t forever, I hope’ Continued from Page 1A “This isn’t forever, I hope,” said LaMear, who had wanted a dog park. “But, certainly for this year, it’s just not possible.” City Councilor Zetty Nemlowill said the decision would be disappointing to the many residents, including the Astoria Dog Park Friends, who had worked for a year WR¿QGDSODFHZKHUHGRJVZRXOGEHIUHHWR romp off leash. But she said the city rightly looked at the cost before moving forward with a project. Nemlowill said the city is “already stretched thin. And we simply do not have the money to maintain a dog park right now. So I think that you are making the right move in bringing this up, Mayor.” The reversal is the latest example of LaMear’s nimble leadership style since she took power as mayor in January. Rather than dig in, the new mayor has shown a willing- ness to set aside her own policy preferences when the circumstances or political realities shift. LaMear, who had long defended pros- ecuting drunken-driving cases in the city’s Municipal Court, agreed to move the cases to Circuit Court after calculating the political will of the council. The retired librarian, who made the renovation of the Astoria Public Library the focal point of her campaign last year, stepped back from a plan to demolish the old Waldorf Hotel as part of the library’s expansion after preservationists urged the city to spare the hotel. “I would like, once again, to thank the PD\RUIRUKHUÀH[LELOLW\WRVWHSEDFNIURPDQ item that she has been passionate for and say, ‘This may not be the right time or the right place to push it forward,’” Councilor Drew Herzig said of LaMear’s shift on the dog SDUN³,WKLQNWKDWWKDWUHDOO\UHÀHFWVZHOORQ her leadership and I thank her for that.” have any false alarms.” Palmer has also hired peo- ple to patrol his sheds at night. In Mount Angel, Ruef also consulted with Flynn, and added more security cam- eras. But Ruef won’t be de- terred from showing off his farm to school children and others who request tours. He believes ignorance about the fur industry poses the greatest threat. In addition to traveling around the country to assess mink farms, Flynn maintains Farm security a database, tracking protest Lew Palmer’s farm was locations and animal rights attacked in October of 1997. activities to warn produc- With help from other mink ers when they could be at a farmers and neighbors, Palm- heightened risk. Flynn noted er managed to round up all the extremists have published but 75 of the more than 4,000 a document called “The Final mink that animal rights activ- Nail” — essentially a blue ists released. print for attacking farms — But Palmer, a fourth-gen- and now have access to names eration mink farmer in Pres- and addresses of virtually ev- ton, Idaho, said it took years ery producer. Flynn assures producers to recover from the attack. Hundreds of mink later suc- WKDWWKHGD\VRI¿QGLQJVHFX cumbed to disease, weakened ULW\ E\ NHHSLQJ D ORZ SUR¿OH by the shock, Palmer said. His in a rural location are over. mink also struggled to breed Flynn asked that his picture the following spring. Palmer not be used with this story to didn’t have the wherewithal avoid being recognized by an- to improve his security until imal rights activists. “I’m not afraid to call a few years ago, after consult- these (activists) terrorists be- ing with Flynn. “He put a bug in my ear, cause you can see the negative and then I got all sorts of engi- effect it has on these families, neers out there,” Palmer said. where a farmer is sleeping in “It basically comes down to a a pickup truck in the evening EXQFKRIPRQH\WU\LQJWR¿QG hours instead of being at home a security system that won’t with his wife,” Flynn said. it’s too early to tell if the trend will continue. Whelan said fur has been incorporated into a wider range of products than ever before, including ear muffs, hand bags, shoes and even fur- niture. In the fashion industry, more than 500 designers are now using fur, compared with fewer than 40 a decade ago. “It’s no longer just your grandma’s full-length coat,” Whelan said. “There’s fur for every price point now.” Burials: Money from fees, interest from city’s fund has not kept pace with maintenance costs Continued from Page 1A ALEX PAJUNAS — The Daily Astorian file Lorna, right, a yellow Lab and pit bull mix, rumbles around the dog park at Eben H. Carruthers Memorial Park with Oly, middle, a yellow Lab, and Max, a Boston terrier. The dog park is the closest place to Astoria where pups can romp off-leash. Room to roam The Parks and Recreation Department had explored several sites for a dog park, including land near Alderbrook Lagoon known as “Stinky Beach” and Tapiola Park, but encountered strong neighborhood oppo- sition. After a town hall meeting at City Hall in March, an interim dog park at John Warren Field looked to have community support. The city was in talks with the hospital to use WKHIRRWEDOO¿HOGIRU¿YH\HDUVRUORQJHU But the issue was left off the Parks and Recreation Board’s agenda in late March, when the board was expected to make a recommendation on a dog park to the City Council. The city plans to use a portion of the IRRWEDOO¿HOGDVDVWDJLQJDUHDIRUWKHQH[W phase of a sewer improvement project. An- gela Cosby, the director of the Parks and Recreation Department, said the city would have had to decide whether to share the ¿HOGRUZDLWXQWLOHDUO\QH[W\HDUWRRSHQ a dog park. Money, however, was the more pressing problem. The Parks and Recreation Depart- ment has been criticized for not adequately maintaining city parks, so some residents questioned why the city would add to that burden with a dog park. A dog park could be included in a new master plan for parks that the city might pur- sue over the next year. “I’m sure there will be a large number of people who are pretty upset,” Cosby said, “and then also a large number of people who are thinking, ‘Oh, that makes sense.’” Several people with loved ones buried at the cemetery have grum- bled to the city about its appearance. The city has promised perpetual care through an irreducible fund. Money generated by the fees and interest from the fund has not kept pace with maintenance costs, forcing the city to sub- sidize Ocean View with about $56,000 each year. “This fee increase would begin closing the gap,” City Manager Brett (VWHVWROGWKH&LW\&RXQ cil. City Councilor Russ Warr, who owns Astoria Granite Works, which makes headstones and grave markers used at the cemetery, declared a potential conflict of in- terest before his vote in favor of the fee increas- es. His business could be impacted by the fee hikes. JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian file Ocean View Cemetery opened in 1898. It has more than 16,000 plots.