How much money is ginseng worth?

As of 2012, wild ginseng is worth anywhere from $500 to $600 per pound, and cultivated ginseng is worth about $50 per pound. One half-acre plot of wooded land can yield up to $30,000 of ginseng if the plant is cultivated properly.

Maryland farmer Larry Harding, as reported in 2008, made between $250,000 and $1 million per year harvesting ginseng and then exporting the plants to China. In 2002, West Virginians gathered 6,400 pounds of wild ginseng worth $2 million, which comes out to $312 per pound. The market for ginseng in Asia can be very lucrative; a single 1,000-year-old ginseng root was sold for $250,000 in China in 2008.