Sold My Ginseng Roots for 2008

Sold my roots the other day at $410 a pound dry. I found some more the last few days and just went ahead and sold it as green while I was at the dealers anyway. I made well over $30 an hour this year again.

I'm thinking about putting together a guide of some of the techniques I've been developing to find more ginseng. The ones I've came up with have easily doubled the amount of ginseng I've found this year. The one I mentioned a few weeks ago enabled me to find a LOT more that I would have never found without the idea I came up with. Some of the other techniques enabled me to dig twice as many roots as the people I dug with even though they spotted about the same amount of plants. One of them joked that I should write a book and sell it, which got me to thinking. If I can help other people find 25-100% more ginseng, then it would be well worth the price for the information.
So, I'm going to put together a guide and if I think the final work is high quality, I will offer it for sale on the internet.

Still Finding lots of Ginseng

This new technique is really working wonders for me. I'm finding ginseng at every new location I've chosen so far except for one and it was full of yellow root (goldenseal). Most of the ginseng I'm finding now is yellow and wilted over or layed down. I've got several pounds dry now, though. Last price quote I got was almost $400 a pound.

Found a New Ginseng Hotspot!

Haven't updated in awhile. The prices here are slowing climbing toward $400. Seems a lot of the dealers got stuck with some of the ginseng they paid $800 a pound for last year and demand is still down while the supply is higher. Still the price is climbing as I imagine a lot of people are holding out for better prices and it is still early.

Oh yeah the spot I found. I've been perfecting a new technique of locating new places to look for ginseng. Anyway, on my last attempt it put me into a location where I found and dug a little bit over 3 green pounds in less than 4 hours. A great find! Probably one of the most concentrated patches I have ever found as it was a fairly small section of a hollow that it was all growing in. Really big and healthy plants too. The soil was very rich and loose and deep. The digging was easy except for all the weeds and bushes and small trees. It was a great place and great soil for everything to grow I guess.

Quick Update on the Prices

It appears the price is going to open a little lower than I had imagined. A lot of people are going to be disappointed with the prices after all the crazy rumors of prices of $1000+ a pound that were going around. I was guessing it would be between $400 and $500 but it looks like it will open at around $350 or $375. That is for here in Kentucky.

I found another 2 or 3 pounds green last weekend. Really wish I didn't have to work during the week. Also wish we would get some cooler weather so I wouldn't mind staying out longer.

Dug My First Ginseng of 2008

I went 2 out of 3 days over the weekend and found quite a few roots. Probably about 2 and a half pounds green. The weather is still very hot so I didn't stay but a few hours each time. I saw a lot more ginseng than I saw last year though in this area. A lot of nice four prongs, too. I also hear a lot more people are looking for it this year because of last year's high prices. That combined with the abundance of it this year is going to have to bring the price down. I'm going to call my dealer soon and see what they expect the price to be. They can't buy it until Sept. 1 I think.

Ginseng Season is Here

Finally, the wait is over. Ginseng season starts tomorrow in Kentucky. I'll probably go everyday this weekend to some spots where it disappears earlier because it gets too much sunlight and the ground is drier. Hopefully, I'll find some big roots and lots of them.

Lots of Ginseng

Ginseng appears to be quite abundant this year compared to last. I saw quite a few nice plants today and can't wait until the season gets here. Only three more months until the season opens here. I have a feeling we are going to see quite a price drop this year though. Everyone keeps saying they think it will be $1,000 a pound because it got so high last year. I think the ginseng prices are going to drop back down though. I would be thrilled with $500-600 a pound this year.

Finding Ginseng Hunting Locations

Well Spring has just about arrived and I am already thinking about finding ginseng this Fall. I need some new places to hunt so I've come up with a couple of ideas and located a couple of potentially good spots. Now I just have to wait until ginseng season starts and get permission from the landowners. I may go check some of my usual spots in a couple of months just to see how much has came up this year. Hopefully it won't get so dry this time and there will be lots more big roots to find.


Click Here to see the best guide on Wild Ginseng.

Selling your Wild Ginseng Roots

Selling your ginseng roots can vary from state to state so be sure to check and find out what you must do in the state you live in. A quick google search will help you find the information you need for your state.

In Kentucky we don't have to do anything except locate a dealer, sell them our roots, fill out some information about when and what county it was dug in, and collect our money. Unless we want to hold onto it until the following year. Then we have to get it weighed and certified.

Before you take your ginseng roots to sell them, you should always weigh them beforehand. Most dealers are honest but there a couple out there that may shave a couple ounces off the weight or have a scale that is a little bit off. A couple ounces could mean a difference of $50.

You should also obtain a list of all the dealers in your state. If you can't find such a list online with a google search, you should be able to obtain one by calling your state agricultural deptartment who will then mail you a list or provide you the website URL if they have it listed online. Here is the one for Kentucky Kentucky Ginseng Dealer List . Find the ones in your area and call each of them to see what prices they are paying. Also ask if they pay a better price for a larger number of pounds. Many dealers will pay an extra $10-25 a pound if you have 3, 5, or 10 pounds or more.

One last note, often (but not always) the price goes up a little as it gets later in the buying season. If you don't need the money and the price isn't changing much or is moving slowly, it is often worth it to hold onto it a couple of months and sell it later in the season. Sometimes dealers have quotas that they need to fill for their buyer and will pay a little more to finish up their quota.

Hopefully this will help you get the fairest price out the hard work you put in finding and digging your wild ginseng roots.