Cost effective weed control is very important in the development of a new essential oil crop. Quality of the oil being produced is very important because a deviation from the norm may affect marketing of the product. Quality is influenced by the growing season environment, and by the procedures and management followed during production, harvesting, and extraction of the crop. For these crops, the availability of markets is very important before large commercial planting is made. The following table shows approximate essential oil yields and the percent of oil that may be recovered from the dry matter of different crops.
Prices fluctuate quite a bit.
The following tables shows the amount of peppermint and spearmint produced in the United States and those imported to the United States from 1990-1994. The above table indicates the increasing amount of peppermint and spearmint oil that is imported to the U.S. relative to local production. This makes local producers more concerned regarding market share and may have implications regarding potential trade barriers. The following tables show the amount of spearmint and peppermint imported to the U.S. from the 3 main countries from 1990-1994. In less than 5 years, Canada has become one of the major exporters of spearmint oil to the United States.