TOPIC: Anyone have prices for Arkansas?

Just because a country has a billion people does not mean that all of those people subscribe to herbal medicine, and by the time ginseng gets to china it is usually well over 1,000 us dollars per pound. Cost prohibitive to our poor country boy counter parts there. So that knocks out a large segment of the population. Ginseng is a commodity, period. Like apples or oranges, when there is a good production year the price goes down. When there is a drought and poor production the price goes up. 2012 there was poor production so the price went up the following year (2013). Last year was a good production year and the Chinese/Korean buyers didn't move all of what they had last year so they aren't keen to buy this year. Plus there has been an over abundance of ginseng dug this year because people saw the T.V. shows and thought they would get rich quick. Although those of us who have been doing this for very long, or take the time to read this forum know does not happen. Flooding the market further. It is simple supply and demand. I had a Korean buyer who told me before season started he wanted all the green ginseng I could get him as fast as I could get it to him. When I called to tell him I was ready to sell to him he dropped off the face of the earth. I have no doubt he found that he could buy cheaper else where, from the flood of new buyers that came on the scene this year, and no longer needed me. (Flooded market) I'm not going to give my product away, I have expenses that I have to cover and still make some profit. I have no doubt at all the political unrest in Hong Kong is playing in as a large factor. The world economy is shaky right now and I know that is playing into things as well. When you are dealing with a global product you have to realize that a butterfly flapping it's wings in china can cause a tidal wave in California and a massive thunderstorm by the time the ripple reaches Appalachia. I hope that contributed to your education a little bit, for what little I know. As a dealer I feel like a mushroom most of the time myself, they keep me in the dark and feed me shit and expect me to grow. (LOL)

Having the insight that you have, from the dealer's perspective, is very interesting. Thanks for posting this!

Mills Ginseng wrote:

Just because a country has a billion people does not mean that all of those people subscribe to herbal medicine, and by the time ginseng gets to china it is usually well over 1,000 us dollars per pound. Cost prohibitive to our poor country boy counter parts there. So that knocks out a large segment of the population. Ginseng is a commodity, period. Like apples or oranges, when there is a good production year the price goes down. When there is a drought and poor production the price goes up. 2012 there was poor production so the price went up the following year (2013). Last year was a good production year and the Chinese/Korean buyers didn't move all of what they had last year so they aren't keen to buy this year. Plus there has been an over abundance of ginseng dug this year because people saw the T.V. shows and thought they would get rich quick. Although those of us who have been doing this for very long, or take the time to read this forum know does not happen. Flooding the market further. It is simple supply and demand. I had a Korean buyer who told me before season started he wanted all the green ginseng I could get him as fast as I could get it to him. When I called to tell him I was ready to sell to him he dropped off the face of the earth. I have no doubt he found that he could buy cheaper else where, from the flood of new buyers that came on the scene this year, and no longer needed me. (Flooded market) I'm not going to give my product away, I have expenses that I have to cover and still make some profit. I have no doubt at all the political unrest in Hong Kong is playing in as a large factor. The world economy is shaky right now and I know that is playing into things as well. When you are dealing with a global product you have to realize that a butterfly flapping it's wings in china can cause a tidal wave in California and a massive thunderstorm by the time the ripple reaches Appalachia. I hope that contributed to your education a little bit, for what little I know. As a dealer I feel like a mushroom most of the time myself, they keep me in the dark and feed me shit and expect me to grow. (LOL)

Thanks for taking the time to reply,it definitely shed some light on the way the market operates. God bless

Mills ginseng,
Are you buying any right now? I tried calling but no one answered.

I'll try again today.

Mills Ginseng wrote:

Just because a country has a billion people does not mean that all of those people subscribe to herbal medicine, and by the time ginseng gets to china it is usually well over 1,000 us dollars per pound. Cost prohibitive to our poor country boy counter parts there. So that knocks out a large segment of the population. Ginseng is a commodity, period. Like apples or oranges, when there is a good production year the price goes down. When there is a drought and poor production the price goes up. 2012 there was poor production so the price went up the following year (2013). Last year was a good production year and the Chinese/Korean buyers didn't move all of what they had last year so they aren't keen to buy this year. Plus there has been an over abundance of ginseng dug this year because people saw the T.V. shows and thought they would get rich quick. Although those of us who have been doing this for very long, or take the time to read this forum know does not happen. Flooding the market further. It is simple supply and demand. I had a Korean buyer who told me before season started he wanted all the green ginseng I could get him as fast as I could get it to him. When I called to tell him I was ready to sell to him he dropped off the face of the earth. I have no doubt he found that he could buy cheaper else where, from the flood of new buyers that came on the scene this year, and no longer needed me. (Flooded market) I'm not going to give my product away, I have expenses that I have to cover and still make some profit. I have no doubt at all the political unrest in Hong Kong is playing in as a large factor. The world economy is shaky right now and I know that is playing into things as well. When you are dealing with a global product you have to realize that a butterfly flapping it's wings in china can cause a tidal wave in California and a massive thunderstorm by the time the ripple reaches Appalachia. I hope that contributed to your education a little bit, for what little I know. As a dealer I feel like a mushroom most of the time myself, they keep me in the dark and feed me shit and expect me to grow. (LOL)

*** Love the last quotation... that same phrase was used in the \"The Departed\" with Jack Nicholson. Good one !! LOL...

Currently not buying. All the money I have is tied up currently. Working on a deal to start buying again in the next week or two.

AR & MO Ozark Mountain ginseng roots better known overseas as \"western wild\" in general have a lot of undesirable characteristics in comparison to other wild ginseng growing regions. Longer plus warmer growing seasons and shallow rocky soils produce quicker growth leading to dense \"bony\" root that can many times dry discolored unless constant temperatures and humidity is maintained.
These regions produce higher than average percentages of fiber and tails from roots that are mostly long and slim rather than short and round or \"chunky\" and thus unlike cultivated roots.
These longer slimmer and higher fiber characteristics are more similar to those of artificially propagated plants and therefore are very common and can be produced cheaper by farmers than by hunters.
These long slim types of roots would be worth much more overall if they were not damaged or broken in anyway because as long as the fiber and tails are connected to the root & rhizome(neck) showing the true age of the plant let's say for instance 15-20-25+ years old as compared to ones less than 10 growing seasons under cultivation.
Hence the value of undamaged Fresh roots from this region may exceed the worth of bulk dried roots
factoring in the fresh to dry cost ratio.
For example at 200 fresh and 3:5 to 1 ratio we may assume the dry price to be 700 with all things equal but sadly and for the most part they are not.
For example well handled undamaged fresh wild AR or southern MO root might be worth 200+ per fresh pound as the material has a better chance to get to the consumer either fresh or dry and matted or packaged in a \"whole and undamaged state\".
Now let's dry these same roots on a screen which catches and breaks off the feeder (hair roots) and turn and toss them around a bit after forcing them into a shopping sack or worst a baggie then see how much we are offered for them, maybe 400 in the current market compared to 700 for a predominantly short round section of Ohio or IN.
It is my experience that Ginseng diggers and growers can often get excited over big tops as well as big roots but ginseng buyers and sellers sell roots not tops for the most part as tops when you can sell them sale cheap at $-$$ Lb. regardless of they're origin (maybe a small premium if they are \"Certified Organically Grown\") .
I hope this is helpful to some of you out there.

Herbuyer,
It's good to hear from someone that knows what they're talking about.

You've been in the business a long time. It's hard to get across to a lot of diggers that all seng is not equal. States, elevations,type soil and temperatures.

I am from Ohio and was calling around the state to see who'd pay the most as I had nearly two dry pounds and thought it'd be worth a road trip for just two hundred bucks more. When dealers from flat parts of the state heard my roots were dug from a county adjacent to the Ohio river they said they would pay more. Still didn't pay as good as the local buyer who gets predominantly local roots and is fifteen minutes away as I suppose he knows these larger hills seng is highest quality in the state.