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<\/p>\nThe cool woodlands of central Wisconsin boast soils packed with Ice Age mineral deposits that make the area perfect for the cultivation of ginseng, a medicinal root that has been exported to Asia for more than 300 years.<\/p>\n
Sliced and used in tea or ground into capsules, ginseng root is touted as an energy- and immunity-booster that can also reduce stress and improve memory. The bulk of the harvest is dried and shipped to China.<\/p>\n
Nearly all U.S. ginseng is produced in Marathon County, Wisconsin, where growers say the soil and climate produce top-quality roots with a distinct flavor, just as the \u201cterroir\u201d of specific wine regions affects the taste of grapes. Central Wisconsin, known as the \u201cNapa Valley of American ginseng,\u201d produces crops that fetch premium prices in global markets.<\/p>\n
But now, U.S. trade tensions with Beijing, a sluggish Chinese economy and strong competition from cheaper Canadian supplies are squeezing the niche industry that generated $14.7 million in U.S. exports to China in 2024, according to Chinese customs data.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not profitable anymore,\u201d said Joe Heil of Heil Ginseng Enterprises, a 30-year veteran of ginseng farming. A generation ago, Wisconsin had 1,400 growers, Heil said, while now the number is fewer than 70.<\/p>\n
Costs for labor, fertilizer and other inputs \u201care through the roof, so we\u2019re not surviving,\u201d Heil said. \u201cWe\u2019re just kind of slipping away.\u201d<\/p>\n
TRADE WARS POSE NEW PROBLEMS<\/p>\n
Trade wars have compounded problems for ginseng producers, sparking an escalation in retaliatory tariffs between the U.S. and top buyer China before the two countries struck a temporary truce in May. Hostilities resumed this month with renewed threats over rare earths ahead of a planned meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.<\/p>\n
The volatile moves have rattled Wisconsin\u2019s ginseng growers and complicated business planning for a small industry based on finicky plants that need three to four years to produce marketable roots.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s made making rational decisions hard because you don\u2019t know what you are supposed to be doing,\u201d said Nick Sandquist, general manager at Hsu\u2019s Ginseng Enterprises.<\/p>\n
Some ginseng operations, including Hsu\u2019s, have been relying on diversified income streams while the trade war plays out. Hsu\u2019s operates a garden supply division while Joe Heil, a fourth-generation farmer, has expanded into growing hemp and hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) products.<\/p>\n
COMPETITION FROM CANADA<\/p>\n
Wisconsin growers\u2019 struggles pre-date the latest trade war salvos. Ginseng farmers have been operating below the cost of production for about five years, Sandquist estimated, although break-even prices vary among farms.<\/p>\n
One issue has been the abundance of cheaper ginseng grown in Canada, growers said. China imported nearly 3,000 metric tons of Canadian ginseng in 2024, at an average price of about $15 per kilogram, Chinese customs data showed, compared to 213 tons of U.S. ginseng priced on average near $69 per kilogram.<\/p>\n
Wisconsin ginseng\u2019s quality is different from the Canadian supplies grown primarily in Ontario, south of Toronto, in sandier soils.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat two degrees of latitude difference, plus the geology, impact taste and flavor,\u201d said Will Hsu, president of Hsu\u2019s Ginseng Enterprises.<\/p>\n
BOOM YEARS<\/p>\n
Wisconsin\u2019s ginseng exports boomed in the 1990s and 2000s as China\u2019s economy surged. Beijing joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, relaxing tariffs on imports.<\/p>\n
However, trade in the medicinal root dates back centuries.<\/p>\n
In the early 1700s, as over-harvesting restricted supplies of wild Asian ginseng, French missionaries learned of a similar ginseng species, familiar to indigenous tribes, that grew naturally in Quebec and much of eastern North America.<\/p>\n
In 1784, the first merchant ship bound for China from the newly independent United States departed New York bearing furs and 30 tons of American ginseng.<\/p>\n
Will Hsu\u2019s father, Paul Hsu, started his farm and garden business in 1974. Today, Will Hsu oversees the operation based in Wausau, Wisconsin, where operators answer the phone speaking Mandarin and English, and the website is accessible in both languages.<\/p>\n
WAITING OUT THE TRADE WAR<\/p>\n
The current trade tensions have stalled demand for Wisconsin ginseng, forcing growers like Joe Heil and Will Hsu to pack up their dried ginseng roots and try to wait out the crisis.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of cardboard boxes of dried ginseng root, were stacked six rows high on wooden pallets in the center of the Hsu Ginseng Enterprises warehouse during an August visit. Some will be shipped to domestic customers for the Christmas and Lunar New Year holidays, while the rest awaits demand from customers in China.<\/p>\n
\u201cShipping is taking longer, selling it is taking longer. It\u2019s just taking longer for us to convert the crop into cash,\u201d Hsu said.<\/p>\n
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