This is a good example of how wild-simulated growers don't fit the \"regulatory mold\" established for wild ginseng. As a grower with a large quantity of roots in the ground, that either are ready to be dug for market, or need to be dug for transplant, you would need to start digging as soon as the plants emerged in the spring. Which of course would technically be \"breaking the law\" by harvesting out of season. Even if you didn't have a huge amount of roots to harvest, as a grower in my area, the best time to dig your crop is early in the growing season because 50% of the plants are browsed off by deer by mid June. Again, growers are placed in a situation where they forced to circumvent the laws to get their crop to market. Is it fair to put growers in this situation? Do we tell farmers when they can harvest their Tomatoes? I know for a fact that one grower in our area was harvesting his roots to get a head start on the labor, and someone called the wildlife officer on him for harvesting out of season. For harvesting 'sang he planted on his own land.
These are classic examples of why we need to develop some kind of certification system for wild-simulated ginseng growers. Currently only West Virginia has a program set up for wild-simulated growers, which the ginseng growers association there helped develop. I have heard that Pennsylvania is also close to getting something set up. Another benefit of having certification in place is that it will protect market access for growers if there is a ban on the harvest and sale of wild 'sang. If the USFWS determines that the trade in wild ginseng is detrimental to the survival of the species, a determination they make every 3 years based on harvest data, population monitoring, etc., then the only ginseng on the market, legally, would be cultivated roots, and roots certified as wild-simulated. If a ban was to happen right now, all that wild-simulated root that we have been growing would be illegal to harvest because it is regulated as \"wild.\"
The USFWS has suggested in it's most recent \"Ginseng Findings Report '09-'10\" that states need to develop systems to track wild-simulated roots, specifically naming grower certification programs, as an option. To me that sounds like a good suggestion. Basically, set something up or risk losing it all. I am interested to hear some perspectives on this. What do people think?
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