TOPIC: Fox New article on ginseng: As ginseng prices soar, diggers take to the backcountry

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/09/28/ginseng-diggers-take-to-woods-as-prices-soar/?intcmp=trending

This is not a very encouraging sign folks...

Not good. With Appalachian outlaws showing poachers I am worried it will make poaching more common. I am more worried for my ginseng this coming season as I have ever been before.

On the other hand, I guess it could work right the opposite, maybe people will be afraid after seeing how Ross sets traps and others shooting out tires.

Yep sad news all around for sure. Thanks for the post tho Brad.

One of the topics in the article mentioned digging immature roots. I know most of you on wildgrown have dug what appeared to be a decent size 3-prong plant only to find a tiny root. I know most of you would do what I have done in the past and that would be to replant it right there on spot.

Furthermore as long as there are obviously some unethical seng buyers that are willing to buy immature tiny roots, unethical diggers are going to dig them.

Question to all ethical seng buyers. What are your thoughts on this?
Should seng buyers be fined if their seng lot includes immature roots?
I mean it's not hard to identify a baby 3 year old root that came off a baby 2 prong.

Why would anyone buy roots like that??? If there is no demand for baby roots then unethical diggers would have no place to sell them, thus that problem solved!!
Thanks,
Latt

I agree that the story is not good for Ginseng, Ginseng Growers and ethical Ginseng Diggers/Stewards! However, the story came out in September of 2012 and although Fox is watched by a lot of folks, I doubt that the story had the same audience or interest than what the CBS story garnered.

This story, the CBS story and the Appalachian Outlaws Show are the more reasons why we all (Ginseng Dealers, Ginseng Growers and ethical Ginseng Diggers/Stewards) need to work together, with Law Enforcement, the States and the Legislators to change things and to get the correct information to the public and those that regulate Ginseng. If we do not and just sit back to see what happens, then we may soon see our livelihoods disappear into the annals of history.


Frank

Latt wrote:

Yep sad news all around for sure. Thanks for the post tho Brad.

One of the topics in the article mentioned digging immature roots. I know most of you on wildgrown have dug what appeared to be a decent size 3-prong plant only to find a tiny root. I know most of you would do what I have done in the past and that would be to replant it right there on spot.

Furthermore as long as there are obviously some unethical seng buyers that are willing to buy immature tiny roots, unethical diggers are going to dig them.

Question to all ethical seng buyers. What are your thoughts on this?
Should seng buyers be fined if their seng lot includes immature roots?
I mean it's not hard to identify a baby 3 year old root that came off a baby 2 prong.

Why would anyone buy roots like that??? If there is no demand for baby roots then unethical diggers would have no place to sell them, thus that problem solved!!
Thanks,
Latt

As far as I know, these unethical seng Buyers are not selling immature roots to the larger Buyers or Exporters. They are selling these immature roots mainly to locals for their own use, for replanting and sometimes under the table to Herb Shops that produce their' own mix of Medicinal Herbs and Teas. Take these out of the equation and then the unethical Buyers will have no market for immature roots and no reason to buy them. How many folks that are members or lurkers of the Wildgrown forums purchase immature roots from Buyers for replanting to increase their' crops? I know that there are some and until they stop and/or Law Enforcement catches these folks (the unethical Ginseng Dealers/Buyers and the folks that purchase these roots from them), the market for these immature roots will not stop. I ask that all of these folks stop doing so now and no matter how hard it is to purchase root stock for your' crops, please resist giving these unethical Buyers an avenue to sell these ill gotten and illegal roots. I ask that they only purchase immature roots from Growers that are licensed to harvest and sell these roots to part-time or full-time Growers. By doing so, these folks will make a very large impact on fixing the overall problem in the sales of illegal/immature roots!


Frank

The way I see it is: We need at the very least a Ginseng Growers Association, maybe a national organization overall with state chapters. Since a lot of diggers are also growers or responsible stewards, and we need sheer numbers, they should be included as well, to my mind. Call it something like the \"National American Ginseng Stewards\" something, with subsets for growers, stewards/responsible diggers, other interested parties.

I know people have been throwing this idea around, but how would we get it off the ground? Game plan/logistics/etc?

My family bought a farm about 5 years ago and have been planting wild-simulated Ginseng ever since, a couple acres each fall. We have a vested financial interest in this plant's legal status, and I know everyone else on these boards does too. We would be completely willing to join such an organization; my problem is, I have no idea how to go about doing this. Maybe through such an organization we could even figure out boring stuff like crop insurance, the way you can do for orchard trees and grapes (comparable in the amount of time it takes to get a good producing crop).

The problem I see is that the type of publicity anyone in the Ginseng business is getting lately has been pretty much totally negative. Appalachian Outlaws says it right in the title....\"Outlaws.\" These articles and such (Fox and CBS) are not lending anyone in the Ginseng trade any type of credibility, we as a group seem to be portrayed as criminals more than anything. I feel like this is an opening to: More regulations on Ginseng digging; More regulations on Ginseng sales/exports; and there are no protections in place for the small grower.

At the Ginseng meeting 2 years back (December 2012), held around the Asheville NC, there were a lot of growers there talking about organizing, but we've not heard anything about it since then. If ANYONE knows ANYTHING about whether there is an organization, or how to set something like this up, I would absolutely LOVE to hear about it.

Apologies for going on for so long...have a tendency to ramble, and haven't been on here for awhile, so this is news to me. I'm worried Ginseng sales will be made illegal, and since there's no distinction between wild and wild simulated, we'll end up losing everything. And all I see is horrible publicity for everyone associated with ginseng in the public eye, with very few exceptions. Ach, and I've gone on for longer! Sorry

Ginsengmaster, sounds like you have a really nice farm there with a lot of seng growing wild-simulated style. I would love to see the pics of this someday.

\"United Plant Savers\" may be a great place to start by contacting them in helping with some of the things you have mentioned.

I for one am not in favor of more regulation, laws etc as it only hurts the ethical seng diggers and buyers. Unethical seng diggers and buyers will continue to do what they do regardless of the law. I am all for one possible law tho. Someone had posted in the past that Seng diggers should have to pay $35bucks for a diggers license or permit to dig seng. I am all for that particular suggestion. It's a small fee to pay and perhaps the proceeds could go specifically towards the preservation of Wild Ginseng population.

These funds could (as some members have suggested) go towards education, covering the cost of seng seeds to be replanted by regular people or even the state and beefed up law enforcement performing enhanced in the woods monitoring for poachers etc.

I am just afraid if we get to many regulations and laws that it will snow ball out of control which could lead to a moratorium if it gains too much momentum.

I know I hunt on land that I have written permission to hunt. Perhaps our small group here on Wildgrown.comcan make a small dent in the big problem of poaching. If we see anyone hunting on land that we know is not supposed to be there we can call the Game Warden, Local Police or Sherriff's office to report them.

Latt

Ginsengmaster1 : BCastle has been an advocate for such a Growers Association for some time now. It's a great idea, however logistically has many many details that would need to be handled. I'm not too sure how to proceed, however I think Brad [BCastle} has a plan. It's certainly worth discussing.

I, Too, Would be interested in joining such a group. That having been said, I also believe that hyper-regulating our favorite herb isn't the way to go.

More importantly, it's a question in my mind how effective this association could be in deterring poachers.

Were you at that Ashville meeting? Me too. I wonder if we met there?

I am for regulating the purchase of immature roots. That can be done at the State level, and woulod directly affect the purchasers, who would in turn, affect the poachers. Like Bro LATT said, this wiould go a very long way to stop this sort of thing.

My partners and I are looking into a monitoring system to impliment on our planted patches. We, like you, are on private land. Such a monitoring system would be a credible deterrant albiet expensive. the cheapest one I found was $2,700.- and went up if more cameras were added. I do have to say that my research is incomplete on these systems, and more is required before I make a substancial pruchase of this sort. I did find cameras that could be made to look like rocks, or tree branches, tho!

I am left with this old proverb; \"A lock only keeps an honest man out.\"

I agree that regulations in theory would be wonderful, but as it has been said, regulations usually only apply to ethical people who follow them. In the long haul, regulations often become an overbearing headache to all those who try to follow the law.

My family has been making maple syrup for over 200 years in the same area of PA, and lately the laws regulating it are getting more and more strict. Every year I am spending more money than I make just to keep up to par with the regulations. It is sad, all the small-time hobby syrup makers are all but extinct, only the big guys can survive.

It would be a shame if the same thing happened in the ginseng industry. I would hate to see diggers who get 1lb or less a year to get pushed to the wayside. Now that being said, I don't think a $35 diggers license would be a bad idea, and I think every state should implement that right away (as long as the money is used to help the ginseng industry in some way). At the very least, ethical diggers would be contributing a little $ each year to help out their hobby.

I personally do not think we should have to pay a fee for a harvesting or growing permit on private land. The way our government is we dont need any extra laws or regulations. There will always be a way around laws for those that doesnt want to follow them anyway. I am really tired of having my rights taken away because of a few idiots that cant be responsible.