US Ginseng roots Prices

Prices of other produce in the Tubers category in US: Seed Potatoes, Potatoes, Cassava, Sweet Potatoes, Yams, Taro (Arrowroot), Licorice roots, Chicory roots & Cocoyam.

See prices of ginseng roots in other countries across North America: Canada ginseng roots, US ginseng roots, Anguilla ginseng roots, Antigua and Barbuda ginseng roots, Bermuda ginseng roots, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba ginseng roots, St.Pierre and Miquelon ginseng roots, United States Minor Outlying Islands ginseng roots, Cayman Islands ginseng roots & Greenland ginseng roots.

Buying ginseng roots in the US: What you should know

When planning to buy ginseng roots, start by making a decision on whether you want to buy green (wet) or dry ginseng roots. Green simply means that the roots have just been freshly harvested and actually have water in them, whereas dry means that the roots have been dehydrated.

“Green gold’ is the nickname for wet ginseng as it is a quick source of revenue. Green ginseng weighs three times the weight of dried ginseng but sells at a fraction of the dried one. Green (wet) ginseng just needs brushing rather than washing.

According to the West Virginia Division of Forestry, one pound of green or wet ginseng will typically dehydrate to approximately a third of a pound of dry ginseng roots. This means that to make one pound of dry ginseng roots, you need 300 wet roots!

Dried ginseng, on the other hand, requires two processes: washing and drying. Washing requires the use of low-pressure hoses to reduce root damage. A soft brush also does the work. The main task is to remove the dirt rather than scrub the root white, as this may hamper its quality.

After the preparation stage is over, the next stage is to market the dried ginseng at a local market. In The U.S., there are usually up to 60 licensed buyers or dealers at a given time, in one state. These buyers are easy to find as they usually register and advertise their services with the state’s licensing office. The seller usually samples the buyers’ prices and settles for the best.

So as you can see, the prices vary drastically depending on whether you want to buy green or dry ginseng roots. Obviously, the ginseng price of dry roots is definitely way higher than the price of wet roots, normally by about 3 times or more.

American ginseng root categories

For starters, ginseng roots are mainly differentiated according to how they are grown. These are the main categories of American ginseng roots:

Wild ginseng: The priciest of them all, grows naturally without human intervention in temperate climate forests. Some buyers love to use this type as a sign of their social status.

• Wild simulated: Planted by growers in woods without preparing the land or using chemicals

• Woods-grown: Planted by growers in woods, involves preparing the bed and chemicals may be used.

• Cultivated: Planted in typical modern cultivation style.Involves preparing the beds, using fertilizers, irrigation, etc

• When purchasing, it’s important to ask the seller to clarify which of the above varieties they are selling.

1. Wild ginseng

Wild American ginseng grows near or in the following deciduous forests:

Wild gingseng from Appalachian forest, East Coast

The Appalachian mountains cut a swathe of hardwood forestry belt in eastern North America. Key vegetation includes hardwood trees like sweet maple, poplar and oak. Beneath them, nestling just a couple inches beneath the topsoil is one of the world’s most valuable herbs, ginseng.

Appalachian farmers have witnessed scarcity of wild ginseng due to poaching that began as early as the 1800s. Hence, they started growing “wild-simulated ginseng” which they sow right in the forests instead of at home!

Ginseng producers or “hunters” do the hard work of plucking whole roots from stony crevices. They pay a fee of $20 per 90-95 plants to the district authorities, to gather the roots. Buyers will usually pay the hunters a paltry $10 per plant, but if they sell directly to Chinese buyers, they might earn much more.

Wild gingseng from Ozark Forest, Arkansas

Situated in Arkansas, the Ozark Forest and the St. Francis National Forest are twin forests that overlook Crowley's Ridge. Its establishment date was 1901 and its area is 1.2 million hectares.

Because Ozark’s wild ginseng only occurs in moist spots in Ouachita Mountains as well as Crowley’s Ridge, it can be rather expensive from its hunting labor. Diggers pay no license fee but licensed buyers pay a fee. If the root is broken or gouged, producers are ready to accept about $90 per pound from local buyers.

Wild ginseng from Monongahela National forest, West Virginia

Tucked in the West Virginian wilds, the 1000-feet above sea level Monongahela forest is a diverse source of timber. Its foliage often provides Christmas trees to several Washington D.C. addresses. Its Cheat Mountain towers high over the green canopies.

The ginseng digging season takes place between September 1 and November 30 in West Virginia. At a fee of $20 per district permit, a ginseng gatherer has a limit of 95 roots to reap at this park. Because of the limitation of less than 24 plants a day, the wild root at the Monongahela National Forest can be relatively expensive from $140 per pound and above.

Wild gingseng from Wisconsin Forests and Marathon County Woodlands

Perhaps the most celebrated source of wild ginseng in the United States is Wisconsin. About 90-98% of cultivated ginseng in the United States is from this state.

While the forested Indian reserve of Eastern Iowa county in southwestern Wisconsin is home to wild ginseng, the bulk of the state’s crop is cultivated. Marathon county provides 90-95% of the state’s cultivated ginseng supplies.

2. Wild-simulated and wood-grown ginseng

Wild-simulated and wood-grown ginseng best thrives in areas near the above regions where wild ginseng occurs naturally. Americans have practiced wild-grown/wood-grown ginseng tradition for 200 years. During this time, they have noted that transplanted roots do best. Nowadays, however, it is hard to come by wild roots to transplant due to park restrictions.

Seed for wild-simulated/woods-grown ginseng costs anywhere between $85 and $160 a pound. Land preparation and seed growth may end up consuming $33,000 per half acre or double that figure per acre.

Gingseng prices for September through October 2024 cooled significantly. This always happens during the 3-month fall harvest when supplies begin to increase. As such, below is a side-by-side price review of both April and October 2024:

3. Cultivated ginseng

Cultivated ginseng grows in Zones 3 to 8, which range from the Pacific Northwest to California. These regions may have high or too low rainfall/temperature ranges to suit the moderate climes of wild ginseng.

It is a highly expensive routine to grow the root. While it requires 9 to 12 years to mature, ginseng must always stay under a cool canopy of trees, another expense. Secondly, it takes around 400 fully-grown roots to yield a single pound of dried ginseng.

Although it costs less than wild or wild-simulated ginseng, cultivated ginseng is free of licensing fees. Owners can harvest it at will.

US Wild Ginseng Under Threat

You must have noted from the data above that wild ginseng poaching in Appalachia has been around since the 1800s. So it comes as no surprise that 200 years onward, wild ginseng in this forestland is officially classified as under threat. In fact, data from Resilience.org shows that the resource is declining fast. This has led to the closure of some 5,000 square miles of forestland in several states.

The Appalachian Regional Commission says that 180 of 423 counties in Appalachia or 42% of counties that depend economically on ginseng are at risk. Hence, the U.S Forest Service in September 2024 extended a ban on harvesting wild ginseng in North Carolina that has been in place since 2021.Other areas in Appalachia with similar bans include Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia.

South Korea Ginseng Lands in U.S. in Exchange Program

A major development in ginseng circles in 2024 was the bilateral trade agreement to ship in fresh ginseng from South Korea to the U.S. The June 30, 2024 inter-governmental agreement was the end result of negotiations that had been dragging since 2017. In exchange for the allowance, the U.S. started shipping grapefruit from Texas to South Korea.

Before the bilateral agreement, South Korea still exported 13.92% of its fresh ginseng to the U.S., its second largest destination. The pact is significant because Korea accounts for 42.2% of the world’s ginseng supplies.