Many people are unaware of the extent of Marathon County’s Ginseng crop.  Marathon County produces almost all of Wisconsin’s crop and 95% of the entire country’s crop comes from Wisconsin.  So it’s safe to say Marathon County is the United States capital of ginseng.  The U.S. is also the 3rd largest producer of Ginseng, behind Canada and China.  

The May 7th snowstorm has significantly damaged this crop and today were are now getting some terrible numbers.  Acording to the AP, the industry will loose over 15 million dollars from the storm.  I spoke with Marathon County Agricultural Agent Mike Wildeck today who also estimates the loses to be in the 15 to 20 million range.  The industry is looking for state and federal aid.

On another note… We are in the process of beefing up our Storm Trak 9 Facebook Fan page.  If you’re on Facebook…here is the link.  We will be posting forecast updates, photos, links, and other tidbits more frequently. 

Meteorologist Brian Niznansky

Posted under Storms