Wisconsin should begin sending more ginseng to Taiwan as part of a trade deal worked out between the state and the island nation.
Ginseng Board of Wisconsin President Robert Kaldunski says the specifics of the deal are being finalized, but the framework is in place. Kaldunski doesn't know how much of the crop will be exported but the number won't be small.
“We’re growing about a million pounds a year. We don’t expect that to be half the crop, but it could be a healthy percentage of that, that gets shipped out.”
Will Hsu of Hsu's Ginseng says the desire to export fresh ginseng to Taiwan has always been there, but technology had to catch up.
“Think about today… the products that you consume fresh. A lot of those product you consume fresh today, 20, 30, 40 years ago you could only find dry in grocery stores.”
Governor Tony Evers says it's not only fresh Ginseng that will be going to Taiwan.
Evers says the state has plenty of other products to go around.
“We have lots of products here in the state of Wisconsin that we think we can move across the sea, and we will continue to work hard)
Governor Evers made the announcement at Hsu's ginseng gardens outside Wausau along with officials from Taiwan including their representative to the US Bi-khim Hsiao.
