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Wisconsin's valuable ginseng crop - a major export to China - took a devastating hit Mother's Day weekend when deceptively mild spring weather reverted to winter before upstate growers could protect the ancient medicinal root worth $60,000 to $80,000 an acre.

"This was like the Hurricane Katrina of Wisconsin - it took out nearly all of our ginseng gardens," said Joe Heil, president of the Ginseng Board of Wisconsin.

Wisconsin produces 95% of the nation's ginseng - an earthy, mildly bitter medicinal root prized in China for its health-enhancing properties. It's by far the state's most lucrative crop, per acre.

Heil on Thursday estimated his own loss at "$1 million-plus" for 80 acres of ginseng near Edgar, 15 miles west of Wausau.

"I've been growing ginseng for 20 years, and I don't know that there's been anything like this before," he said. Heil does not have insurance coverage because "the policy isn't desirable; it offers completely unrealistic coverage."

Gov. Jim Doyle late Wednesday asked U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to declare a disaster in Marathon County, including the Wausau area, where most of Wisconsin's 600,000 pounds of ginseng, valued at about $18 million, is grown. A disaster declaration would allow eligible farmers to receive emergency loans and secure crop insurance payments - assuming they have insurance.

Heil said most ginseng growers don't carry insurance.

The loss is expected to ripple through the next three to four years, as ginseng takes several years to mature once planted, and plants at different stages of development were lost or damaged, said Butch Weege, executive director of the Ginseng Board.

It takes ginseng 18 months to go from seed to plant, and another three years for the root to mature for harvest. Older plants that froze last weekend will go dormant and lose a year of growth, extending the investment cycle. Seedlings with delicate structures either were killed, or may be more susceptible to future disease.

Heil estimated 80% to 90% of Marathon County's ginseng was on the ground or affected by the 3 to 6 inches of heavy snow that fell May 7 through Saturday morning, instead of flurries that were in the forecast.

At least 30% of the crop must be considered a loss before a disaster declaration can be made.

Nearly all of the state's 200 growers, which produce roughly 1,400 acres of ginseng, are in Marathon County.

Ginseng is dormant and uncovered during the winter. But once the plants return to life - usually in early May - they must be protected from sunlight. This spring, early growth required that mesh shades be put up 10 days to 14 days earlier than usual to protect the plants from killing sunlight.

As the snow began to pile up, poles snapped and structures collapsed.

"Some growers were dismally aware by the time they went to bed after the 10 o'clock news Friday that things were going to be bad, and there was nothing they could do," Weege said.

It would have taken days for growers to remove the protective structures over 60 to 100 acres, Weege said.

Mike Thompson, who grows three acres of ginseng north of Medford - about 40 miles northwest of Wausau - said he had minor losses because he was able to open shades before the snow accumulated. His ginseng also wasn't as far out of the ground as ginseng near Wausau.

Heavy May snowfalls are not unprecedented, but they haven't happened in the Wausau area since the early 1990s, when growers switched from wooden lattice structures to the plastic shade they now use because it's less labor-intensive and less expensive to maintain, Weege said. The wood structures held up better under the weight of snow.

The shade cloth, as it's called, can tolerate up to 2 inches of heavy, wet snow. But the cabling that runs up and over the top of 6-feet tall cedar posts to provide a support structure will break with more weight than that, Weege said.

Ginseng's feel-good properties include stress relief, increased stamina and increased resistance to common illnesses such as colds.

Wisconsin ginseng growers have aggressively marketed ginseng abroad during trade missions. Weege said he was planning a trip to Japan next week, then to Taiwan in June, and this fall to South Korea.