Snake Root Buyers
Answered by: Richard Alan Miller
Question from: James Dowis
Posted on: September 09, 2007

I live in western kansas and dig western kansas snakeroot. The guy I was selling to quit buying and I can’t locate a buyer. Any ideas where to look?

Kansas Snake Root is Echinacea angustifolia, but is often a variation or even different species of the primary root most desired for the current marketplace. For detail on variations and how to identify it, go to www.herbfarminfo.com for a monograph on this crop. It includes markets and current pricing.

There are lots of buyers in your neck of the woods, including Alan Lockhart of American Botanicals (Eolia, MO). Your buyer will be based on how much root you have to sell. Wildcrafted root is not worth as much nowadays, as most manufacturers want a papertrail on certified organically grown.

If you are any good, and your root is first class, why not contact a primary middleman, like Herbarium (Kenosha, WI). They often seek specific wildcrafters to harvest their needs each year. And, over time, a relationship is formed , where other crops are also requested during the year. Many make a good living off of doing just that, with each season having it’s own crops.

For more information on that, you might want to review my book "Native Plants of Commercial Importance. Also, don’t forget to visit my website for downloadable papers on such topics and marketing resources.

http://www.nwbotanicals.org/oak/altagri/a_a_index2.htm

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