TOPIC: How much have you dug?

400/lb ,now its up to 425 ,is what my grayson connect says. also says it may be going down. hope not ,but he's ussually on the money .

woodruss67 wrote:
,is what my grayson connect says. also says it may be going down. hope not ,but he's ussually on the money .[/quote]...I guess it varies from region to region..none of the buyers talked about it going down from around here..2 buyers said they thought it would be 600 by thanksgiving or higher..said with a lot of states having a short digging season[mine included] would spur prices forward..but you can hear anything..I guess time will tell. one buyer told me he had bought 40% compared to what he bought at this same time last year..

Chief, I have heard some talk of price dropping back a bit. In fact I've heard that some dealers in TN an KY already have moved backward a little on price. So far I'm holding steady at 425 for a good mixed lot. I hope you are right and it goes up, but my area is having a real good digging season as the seng is still standing pretty good although a lot is turning yellow now.

To answer the original question of this topic: I've got less than 2 green lbs. drying this year. I've probably dug close to 3 and 1/2 lbs but transplanted quite a bit. I've got limited areas to hunt and am trying to get the seng growing a little better in a few of them that I hope to be safe from other hunters.

5 glad your plants are holding up..ours did not..as far as the price dropping, it may very well,or are buyers using that as a scare tactic to get people to \"sell now before it drops\"....400 dollar a pound now is a 200 a pound profit if it go's up to 600 like some say it will ..don't know just throwing it out there...

Chieftain wrote:

as far as the price dropping, it may very well,or are buyers using that as a scare tactic to get people to \"sell now before it drops\"....400 dollar a pound now is a 200 a pound profit if it go's up to 600 like some say it will ..don't know just throwing it out there...

Good question Chieftain.

I hope the price of good average ginseng gets to $600 or more, but don't think it will. I can't say that it won't, as anything anyone says is only speculation, however, speculation based on current fact is I think more reliable than speculation based only on wishful thinking.

1)Right now, as far as I am aware, there is no significant movement by China or Hong Kong. In fact, both are being very quiet.

2)Next, we know that the ginseng market is somewhat cyclical. That meaning that every time we have a year with relatively high prices..like last year...we have a following year with high production and lower prices. Remember, a few years ago it went to $600 by this time and ultimately over $1000. BUT, the next year, buyers who expected sang to advance to the $700 range started buying at $600 and $650, unfortunately for them, China and Hong Kong said NO. Prices fell back into the $200-300 range by the end of the season. Many buyers held their root because they were upside down, and that root then was additional supply on the market the next year which helped to keep the prices down again.

3)In years with little movement early, the price historically corrects down by the middle of October.

Finally, I know what I can sell the ginseng I'm buying for. If I can't sell it next week at a profit, I've lost money. I can't pay more than I can reasonably expect to sell for -unless I am speculating against the current information I have. I for one will not. When I buy your root at $430 per pound today, I am taking a chance that it will drop back to $390 next week. I just cannot justify paying $500 when I know I will lose money at that price. I just can't logically justify that.

BCastle thanks for your reply..I'm always interested in good information,glad you didn't think I was being a smart AZZ,I have heard the same thing about the Chinese this year..I have an old china man in china town in Chicago I call every 60 days or so. he said that they were being closed mouth at this time..and he told me one good thing was there was little to no hold over in the Asian market from last year..I'm all for the dealers making money, like you said it would not be logical or financially beneficial if you didn't...hopefully some of the profit trickles down to your suppliers in a higher price for your diggers.....I don't mind being worked[haggling over 10 to 50 bucks on your pound when you sell it to your buyer, after 40+ years of digging I expect this] ..but what I don't like is being played,some dealer that puts out bad imfo. to cause a panic in the smaller diggers to sell.I believe your imfo to be accurate and reliable.I'v noticed on here that the flow of information on prices has slowed a bit... Thank you,