TOPIC: Root size and root count ( very puzzling )

I talked with an exporter yesterday about why Ky. ginseng didn't bring as much last year as some other states. His response was that Ky. had too large and heavy roots compared to the smaller bulby roots. He also stated that red clay roots were very undesirable.

So, this brings me back to the root count. If you have corky, smaller old roots with long necks the root count is going to be more like 350 to 400. This contradicts every thing I'm trying to achieve. Very Puzzling!!

I don't know about that. I am still looking for the larger bulby roots with darker skin, corky and with good wild character.

Had an individual buyer that wanted small to med. size root this year. I mentioned the bulby to him and his reply was it is good for the seller because of more weight I prefer sm to med. roots. Fine with me but was a bit puzzled.

I know that some stuff like that sold at the end of the season (march) last spring, after it had been left sitting throughout the season. However, my channels are still looking for the traditional solid, quality digger lots.

In my experience from other things, divergent opinions either reflect confusion or inconclusiveness. Either way, I wouldn't count these opinions as a \"take it to the bank\" sort of thing....

In my business dealings, I try to remember that in business, people try to get the best deal at all times, and not all dealings are equal or fair [present company excluded, of course!].

in Canada our wild roots tend to be smaller if compared by age and we get 200 per pound give or take.

Guy

Whitjr wrote:

In my experience from other things, divergent opinions either reflect confusion or inconclusiveness. Either way, I wouldn't count these opinions as a \"take it to the bank\" sort of thing....

In my business dealings, I try to remember that in business, people try to get the best deal at all times, and not all dealings are equal or fair [present company excluded, of course!].

Whitjr,

You are totally correct on both statements! On the first, local Buyers and/or even Exporters (new to the business) may be inexperienced. On the second, the local Buyers or Exporters are either shucking-and-jiveing the diggers or is being shucked-and-jived by his or her Buyers to get a better deal on the Ginseng roots. Could be a case of all of the above!

If a local Buyer gives diggers or an Exporter gives the local Buyers this song and dance, then just tell him or her that you will just sell your' Ginseng roots to Billy or BCastle. They both like the large bulby roots, the larger and more bulby the better and they pay good prices for them! Not sure what Brad does with the large bulby roots but Billy eats'um.


Frank

Note: I corrected my response as I neglected to address that the information was coming from an Exporter. I left in local Buyers as there are a few that are part of the problem, not just Exporters and their Buyers!

rootman wrote:

I talked with an exporter yesterday about why Ky. ginseng didn't bring as much last year as some other states. His response was that Ky. had too large and heavy roots compared to the smaller bulby roots. He also stated that red clay roots were very undesirable.

So, this brings me back to the root count. If you have corky, smaller old roots with long necks the root count is going to be more like 350 to 400. This contradicts every thing I'm trying to achieve. Very Puzzling!!

I think that the root count would be around 200 for roots averaging 15 years old around my area which happens to be known for producing bulby type roots (especially in the counties just to the south of me, but also in my county to some extent). There are very few roots weighing over 2 ounces found around these parts. I have seen some very bulby roots that have weighed an ounce or better though. I don't know about the red clay roots. There is a good bit of clay type soil around these parts, but not that very red clay. I have my reservations about what most exporters actually know about growing conditions. Must be something about a red cast to the roots that he doesn't like. I have read this before on this forum, and I believe that this was from someone in KY or Tennessee. I really havn't run into this around here, but like I said not a lot of heavy red clay around here. I think that certain regions produce roots that are less dense (corky) than other regions. This is from talking to different people in the industry. I guess it makes sense to want to buy a larger volume of roots for basically the same price.
What I mean is ... If you have 2 containers that each have 1000 roots of basically the same size and one weighs 5 pounds and the other weighs 7 pounds then volume wise you are getting the same amount paying $700/lb for the container weighing 5 lbs as you would be paying $500/lb for the container weighing 7 lbs. I'm really not sure how this is sold to the final consumers in Asia, but if it is by weight then it also makes sense that they would want as large a root as possible for the least cost (we all want the best buy possible when making purchases). If I had a choice between 2 roots of equal size and one costs 25% less because it is 25% lighter, I think that would be the one I chose.... Just trying to make sense of it all... I'm done rambling for now...