Opening Day of Kentucky Ginseng Season Changed

The opening day for digging wild ginseng in Kentucky has been moved back from August 15th to September 1st. Ginseng dealers will be allowed to buy green ginseng starting Sept. 1st and dry ginseng Sept. 15th. This puts Kentucky more in line with other surrounding states. There are still many green berries that haven't fully matured on the plants in mid to late August. Very few berries would be red on the old opening day. While this will shorten the digging season, it should help the ginseng population. Less plants will be dug and more mature berries will be returned to the soil. One would think that it will also increase the price a bit since less will be dug.

Welcome to the Ginseng Hunter Blog

Hello and welcome to my blog. I wanted to start a blog about something I have a lot of interest in, so this is it. I will post trip reports about my days hunting ginseng this season, upload some pictures from this year and last, and maybe post some stories I have heard or tell about how I got started (addicted to) 'sang hunting.
I want to keep most of my personal details personal. With that said, I live in central Kentucky and will simply go by GinsengHunter. Following is some information on Kentucky ginseng.

"The wild ginseng trade in Kentucky is a $5 to $8 million industry. Kentucky is the largest supplier of wild ginseng in the United States, averaging approximately 16 percent of the national harvest annually. The average wholesale value of wild ginseng to a root digger varies between $300 and $500 per pound."

The state of Kentucky almost lost its right to export ginseng this year though, after an undercover operation found that many if not most of the licensed dealers were buying the valuable root out of season. You can read more about it here if you like Kentucky faces ginseng export ban

I'll post some photos in a day or two of the roots I dug last season.
Until then,
Happy Hunting