So far this year it's been a roller coaster ride as to prices. Started off pretty strong, then decreased. Lot of speculation in the market right now, supposedly due to the unrest in China, the phenomenally high prices paid last year, and the tremendous influx of new diggers fueled by the likes of "reality" television....several programs on right now claiming to show how quick and easy it is to get rich off ginseng. The market is flooded by poor quality, underage product, dug by everyone from methheads to heads of corporations. All hoping for a quick buck.

The worry in the sang community is that this will push a plant that is already listed as threatened, over the edge into endangered.

Since the US signed the CITES treaty, it is bound by the agreement. What happens from here forward is anyone's guess. If the plant can survive the onslaught of uneducated diggers, many of whom will soon tire of the work and lack of riches, we should be okay, and the prices may rebound. There's already talk of a price increase around Thanksgiving.

In the meantime, I'm documenting every step I take, including keeping all receipts and logging gps coordinates of planting sites. In case the time comes when I'm required to prove that those plants were planted by me, and are not naturally occurring.

CITES....convention for international trade in endangered species of flora and fauna.

"Forget pounds and ounces, I'm figuring displacement!"

If we accept that: MBG(+)FGSF(=)HBG(F1)
And we surmise that: BG(>)HBG(F1) while GSF(<)HBG(F1)
Would it hold true that: HBG(F1)(+)AM500(x)q.d.(=)1.5lbGRWT?
PB answer: It depends.