We started looking at ginseng production after the Ice Storm of January 1998 damaged so many sugarbushes. The root of ginseng has long been used in Oriental medicine, and a well-established market exists.
American ginseng is more valuable than Asian ginseng, and is grown in Asia also.
American ginseng is a federally regulated plant which is on the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species list appendix two. The State of New York strictly regulates the harvest of wild ginseng with in the state. Supposedly when it was first brought into this country the customs agent asked what it was. It is distantly related to the Panax ginsengs. There are some other plants called ginseng that are even more distantly related than Siberian ginseng.