TOPIC: Western Nc dealers quit buying

Im from western nc and yestersay i called the four dealers i know and they all said they werent buying ginseng, green or dry, right now...they said there was no market. Does anyone know whats goin on?

They got scared due to how much sang came flooding in all at once and the prices got to high to fast. everything is a dead stand still. I talked to one dealer and he said it was cause of that dang TV show Appalachian Outlaws. He said \"Hell I got lawyers, n I other high professions walking in here selling sang. They watch one show and find a quick way to make an easy buck, go out, rape the land and get paid for it. Turn around n go back to work making tens of thousands of dollars.\" I don't find that to be right. The new gold rush boys n girls... I remember just going out on my own property and digging a few big ones for extra Christmas cash for the kids. Now I am running poachers off almost everyday and I have 100 acres back here and no neighbors!

I called my local buyer here (even though I never sell to him because he pays too little) just to see where he's at. He said \"sorry, I've bought enough already. I'm not buying any more until further notice\".

Ive not seen this ever really happen. I have seen price fluctuate high then low then high again. Just never a dead stand still. By the end of October it should get back up there again. I have talked to my personal dealer and its hopeful. The Chinese are many and the products they sell move quick. Before you know it, demand will be high and they will be opening their wallets to us again.

How do you think it will affect the price if they start buying again?.... and i called dealers in other states who say they are buying green and dry seng why wouldnt this have an impact on them, just western nc?

It is odd for sure.

just curious, but what are other states buying for today? my dealer here in western NC says it is due to the hong kong crisis going on. another dealer said that and that the got scared due to prices inflation going up to fast. Everyone here is freaking out..lol.. I am just curious now by what you said that its only us. Whats the skinny?

I sold a lb green yesterday in Va for 250 thats about where he has been all yr with us...

It isn't just North Carolina. Everyone is backing up.

The ginseng pricing this year is something new for me as well. Here in Indiana, we've been at $600 per pound dry for two weeks now. I don't think I've ever seen the price stall for that length of time before. I'm not too worried yet. I usually don't sell until the end of October at the earliest. If things don't loosen up in the next few weeks, then you'll see me get nervous.

I don't know if all the silliness this year can be blamed on those TV shows. I've seen more evidence of people in the woods this year than probably the last ten years combined. A few weeks ago, I wandered in on two kids in their mid twenties with big Carhartt jackets on. They had a five gallon bucket with a roll of toilet paper hanging on a tree branch. I have no idea what in the hell they were doing. I guess they thought they were going to dig a pound in one little area, and that bucket was their makeshift toilet if they needed it. When I saw those big heavy jackets they had on, I knew they didn't have a clue as to what they were doing. Maybe I'm different, but I don't wear heavy coats to dig. I get heated up just fine after a few minutes of walking and digging.

One last thought, and this isn't meant to offend anyone, but are there enough diggers out there selling green to keep the prices down? Everyone I know personally that digs ginseng sells it dry. Are there that many folks out there that are hard up and have to have that money today?