TOPIC: want the price of ginseng to go down?

The pdf that Rural Action Forestry posted had a really interesting quote from Scott Persons:

\"Thus, I am a ?sang grower who actually wants the price of the high-grade roots that I grow to go down. I certainly can make a good profit if wild (and wild-simulated) prices are at, say, $450/lb - a price that would send most folks back to work during the week, and take the pressure off of wild populations.\"

I think the price of ginseng at the time of writing was around $800. Dr. Person's argument was essentially that at a very high price, 1) there was too much incentive to poach, and 2) that too many people would be in the woods hunting seng legally, and that with added pressure on the wild populations that laws and regulations would be restrictive in ways that would hurt wild-simulated growers.

Really interesting perspective. Do yall agree?

It's something to consider but here is my take. $450 per lb is enough to be of interest to people that need money. So if it goes to $800 I do not think it will put that many additional poachers in the woods than if it is at $450 per lb. I do think I would rather get $800 for my wild simulated roots than $450 and take my chances. Ginseng hunters have the ginseng hunting bug for different reasons. Some do it for a hobby and the income is welcome but we just love being in the woods hunting seng. Some do it strictly for the money, and thirdly some do it strictly for the money and are going to dig or poach regardless if it $450 or $800 per lb.
I could be wrong but that's the way I see it.
Good food for thought thou Vafiddler.
Latt

I think Latt is correct. Ginseng is not all about money but the enjoyment, and anyone who is going to poach is going to regardless of the price. Good topic though to consider but who knows.

MY NICKEL'S WORTH:

Given the various reasons I have for getting into the woods, I find that the higher the selling price for our favorite crop, the better it is for me. I will be using this as an adjunct for my retirement income... as well as my partner.

All the other reasons I have for getting into this are secondary. I love the woods, love the idea of planting 'sang in the forest, love the idea of planting a near-endangered plant into the forest again... all this is certainly true for me. I also love the fact that most of this will be exported to China, where our trade imbalance is in sore need of being more \"balanced.\"

However you gotta be a realist, especially this day and times.

Poachers are going to the criminal element we have to contend with, just like going downtown in the big city - in a bad neighborhood... gotta deal with it, effectively.

Let the price go as it may, just keep it above 500.-/lb...

I agree

Latt wrote:

It's something to consider but here is my take. $450 per lb is enough to be of interest to people that need money. So if it goes to $800 I do not think it will put that many additional poachers in the woods than if it is at $450 per lb. I do think I would rather get $800 for my wild simulated roots than $450 and take my chances. Ginseng hunters have the ginseng hunting bug for different reasons. Some do it for a hobby and the income is welcome but we just love being in the woods hunting seng. Some do it strictly for the money, and thirdly some do it strictly for the money and are going to dig or poach regardless if it $450 or $800 per lb.
I could be wrong but that's the way I see it.
Good food for thought thou Vafiddler.
Latt

I agree with what you guys are saying.

I think there is a price where the type of fellow that is a seng poacher would choose to do something else for extra cash (like work at McDonalds or actually get some kind of real job doing real work), but that would be somewhere on down below 450.00/lb.

Probably more like in the 200.00-250.00/lb range would start to curb poaching some.

It would probably have to go down to that and stay there a few years before most poachers would actually stop.

If the price is very low one year, they will just store it and try to sell again the next year so it would probably take multi year low prices to actually start curbing the poachers.

Would hate to see that myself.

I would like to see States / Law Enforcement doing more (directly) to curb poaching. Actively looking for seng poachers, stiffer penalty, higher fines, etc. (plus) doing more to educate on good stewardship.

TNhunter

Here in Ohio the ODNR does a pretty good job at looking for poachers. I know one fella from the ODNR that even busted an old lady for poaching Goldenseal. He said it's not hard to catch them. He looks for cars parked along the side of the road and waits for them to come out of the woods with the goods.
He said the old lady gave him the whole what for when he took her sack of goldenseal but he didn't write her a ticket. He felt bad about taking the roots but said she had no remorse about poaching on someone elses land. He kept an eye on her and she did not do it anymore to his knowledge.
I became a contact with him and he planted two lbs of seed in his woods last year. He knows a lot about seng but kind of got a kick out of how much I know about seng. I stopped by there to pick up the new Ohio Ginseng laws pamphlet a couple of years ago.
Never hurts to know the DNR people in your area.
Latt

Im with you on that Tnhunter

(I would like to see States / Law Enforcement doing more (directly) to curb poaching. Actively looking for seng poachers, stiffer penalty, higher fines, etc. (plus) doing more to educate on good stewardship) .....me to.


Latt it is good to know them sure is i/m/o

Billy.

Then there is some people you could show them ur patch and give them a shovel and they still wouldn't dig it because they are to lazy and want everything just handed over

I'm with you all on this one. If the price were $800 instead of $400 then even if half of the ginseng got poached, we'd break even.

In fairness of argument, though, I think Dr. Persons was also thinking of the effect higher prices would have on regulations. In the sense that more people like us would grow it, total ginseng exports would climb, and natural resource managers might mistakenly conclude that pressure on the wild plants had increased. In this case its easy to imagine more restrictive regulation, if not an outright ban on ginseng exports. With the recent prohibition to dig ginseng in Virginia's national forests as an example, I really wonder if potentially changing regulations are scaring off would-be big time growers.