NAFA Raccoon Update

[TrapperRon]

www.nafa.ca/21084

Raccoon Update

January 15, 2016

Just before Christmas we posted an update to inform you that we were working with our promotional department to attract leading European fashion houses to put raccoons back on the runways. As a result of this, we have now completed several sales of better section heavy Western raccoon to these fashion houses. The timing of these Private Treaty sales was important to the fashion houses to have immediate delivery which allows them to take part of the skins to get dressed and into production for the March/April/May international fashion shows. Details of these sales will be posted to your accounts next week at which time you may check online. We will be paying these out together with the proceeds of the January auction.

As mentioned in my earlier update, there is a difference between the colours and most of the prices that were indicated in my earlier update are, in fact, the prices that we have sold these skins at. The basis for a 5XL colour 2/3 Heavy Northern is $26.

This is an important first step to re-establishing raccoons as a fashion trend and hopefully China and others will then copy. However, even with this positive development, the demand for raccoons remains weak, as the Russian market continues to underperform.

Herman Jansen

Managing Director

[bblwi]

Thank you Ron. I guess in our current coon market woes, finding a way to move some very good coons is a positive for all of us. At least with the industry willing to invest in better coon they may build a market that will be there year in year out in high and low price seasons.

Bryce

[trappincoyotes39]

Nah Bryce, coon can be to easy to over harvest, you start talking about them being 25.00 again and the coon trappers will be back at them in force, specially if the other markets are all down. You have a glut of coons again sitting on cold storage and this will happen all over again. Not enough fur fashion to eat up all the coons that can be supplied when we look at 20-25 avg on coons.

[blackhammer]

It aint the over harvest and it is no buyers. I have been told that when Russia can and is buying we can not overproduce coon. They will buy them I suppose the more the cheaper but right now there is no market basically. They can not afford even a five dollar coon. It isn't because there is too many coon but more there just isn't any money. But you are right coon can be produced fast. That might make the price softer but right now buyers can't sell enough to amount to anything.

[bblwi]

The kind of coon they are trying to market in this market is not what can be quickly harvested for what they are wanting now. 5xl 2-3 color 1st quality is a fairly rare coon even with a couple million either n stock or harvested. The current coon market may be a bit like the better grade and color coyote market, but even smaller and tighter.

Bryce

[trappincoyotes39]

So a niche market with no depth, hum sounds familiar. If we couldn't over produce coon then the market would be more stable for coons, we can produce a lot of coons and yet the players decide what they want to pay as they know what is sitting around. It is all about price so we can over produce and shoot ourselves in the foot. We worry about a market for 3-5 percent of a coon harvest as the saving grace?

Not talking right now overall. The very super select bringing a 20-23 avg is not going to fair well for coon harvest across the Midwest. Until the massive holdings of coon get clearances out at rock bottom prices and some countries get money again to spend, doesn't really matter much about the super selects moving, the avg will still be dismal.

[stickbowhntr]

we could solve the entire problem if all the guys that say they not in it for the money just quit selling the coons (or harvesting them). Hold off for a year or two and I think maybe the market back , for one year L>O>L>

[bblwi]

I can remember years in the early 90s when harvests were really, really low and there was no market at that time either. Five years of low harvest did not spur prices until the late 90s when oil went up and the Russian currency was valued very highly. When that broke in late 98 the coon market tanked again for several years.

Bryce

[blackhammer]

Jan 23, 2016 12:09:10 GMT -6 bblwi said:

I can remember years in the early 90s when harvests were really, really low and there was no market at that time either. Five years of low harvest did not spur prices until the late 90s when oil went up and the Russian currency was valued very highly. When that broke in late 98 the coon market tanked again for several years.

Bryce

100 percent right. It ain't the harvest size that is the problem.

[trappnman]

I'm optimistic about things, always trying to see the glass half full but dang it, Next year scares me.

I honestly do not see how in the world coyotes can continue to hold value, and as far as anything else....

they are predicting low, lower oil prices for the forseeable future so where any recovery is going to occur, I don't know

might trap gophers as long as I can next year, and set very few traps

[blackhammer]

Oil everyone seems to think they know, Wasn't long ago the same experts said gas would be above five bucks the rest of our lives. Coyotes may hold value better than anything else kind of like this year. I doubt I can catch enough good ones to make it pay though. I'm going to trap spring beaver but as for next fall god forbid a real job may rear its ugly head. lol

[trappnman]

I hope you are right-

if a certain brand/style of jacket is the driving force......not many eggs in the basket

[bblwi]

Dropped off some rat carcasses by the rendering place today. He asked my rat prices. I got $4.86 for 40 in December and have not sold since. Local buyer I feel is speculating as he wants 5,000 rats. He is paying a long time trapper who traps a large march $4 and $2 in the round this year.
The young owner of the rendering place traps and has caught about 25 coons since mid December. I saw 7 today. All males. He got $10 from the buyer in the grease this week.
Bigger coons, good grade but pretty average eastern WI color. We are going to pull our marsh sets tomorrow. Lots of houses, not hardly any feeders and now lots of ice where you can walk. In the cattails where the 13 inches of snow stayed, not enough ice to carry a person so it has been really rough and the ice is milky so no bubble trails either. I have 160 to either sell locally or ship. I might ship most just to see how the auctions do later this year.

Bryce

[Deleted]

A friend of mine has trapped 2 of the big Saginaw Bay rat marshes for maybe 20 years and he told me a few days ago that instead of many 100's,(wellover several 100's) he was less then 100 and pulled way early.  NO RATS!

[lumberjack]

Im primarly a water trapper and play with canines a couple weeks a year. What I see in the east here is a high percentage of mange. I would guess 2-4 percent from what I have heard? Thats a tough pill to swallow throwing away /burying 10 out of 50, 20 out of 100 when it comes to the final (low) check cashing at the end of the year. Even the ones with slight mange probably get downgraded. Not to mention slipping and rubbing of the necks which seems to happen quite early anymore in the winter.