How to Grow and Sell Ginseng in Wisconsin: DATCP Registration and Certificates

Wisconsin grows about 95% of the cultivated ginseng produced in the United States, and most of it comes from Marathon County, according to a UW figure. The Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) puts the crop’s gross income at up to $20 million a year. If you plan to grow ginseng here, or buy it and resell it, you will deal with more than one state agency and several kinds of paperwork. This guide walks through the process in the order you will need it.

Informational disclaimer: This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. Ginseng rules involve several agencies, and fees and procedures can change. Confirm current figures with the agency named in each step before you spend money or plant a crop. For complex situations, such as a farm operated through an LLC or a business that buys from many growers, consult a qualified attorney or CPA.

Know Which Kind of Ginseng You Are Working With

Most of the confusion around a “Wisconsin ginseng license” comes from treating it as one document. It is not. Wisconsin regulates cultivated ginseng and wild ginseng under different agencies, and your obligations depend on what you do: grow it, buy it, dig it, or ship it.

• Cultivated ginseng is planted and tended on purpose. DATCP regulates growers, dealers, and shipments.
• Wild ginseng grows without cultivation and is harvested from woodland. The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) licenses harvesters and wild ginseng dealers.

The table below lists the main registrations and fees. Where a fee is not listed, the step tells you where to confirm it.

Role or activity	Agency	What it requires	Cost
Cultivated ginseng grower	DATCP	Annual registration every year you grow	Confirm on the DATCP ginseng page
Ginseng dealer	DATCP	Annual dealer registration (s. 94.46)	$25 per year
Each sale to a Wisconsin dealer, or shipment out of state	DATCP	Ginseng Shipment Certificate (s. 94.50)	$15 each
Wild ginseng harvester	DNR	Harvest license	$15.75 resident, $30.75 nonresident
Wild ginseng dealer	DNR	Class A, B, or C dealer license	Class A $100 (up to 100 lb), Class B $500 (up to 1,000 lb), Class C $1,000 (unlimited)
Exporting root or seed abroad	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)	CITES permit	Confirm with USFWS
Business entity (if you form an LLC)	Department of Financial Institutions (DFI)	Articles of Organization and annual report	$130 filing fee, $25 annual report
Seller’s permit for taxable sales	Department of Revenue (DOR)	Business tax registration	$20 for the initial two-year period, $10 per two-year renewal

Note that Wisconsin has no general state business license, and most cities do not issue one either. Your registrations are tied to the activity, not to a blanket permit for “doing business.”

Materials and Requirements Checklist

Gather these before you file anything. Missing one item usually means a second trip to an agency or a delayed season.

• Land you control, or written landowner permission if you plan to dig wild ginseng on someone else’s property.
• A parcel map with boundaries marked, showing where beds, shade structures, and any woodland harvest areas sit.
• Local zoning information from your city, village, town, or county office, especially if you plan to build permanent shade structures.
• Seed or rootstock from a documented source, with records of where it came from.
• A records system, such as a notebook or spreadsheet, for planting dates, bed locations, inputs, harvest weights, and sales.
• Business name and legal structure decisions, including whether you will file an LLC or operate under your own name.
• Online accounts with DFI, DOR, and the Wisconsin One Stop Business Portal, plus a way to pay the fees listed above.

Step-by-Step: Growing and Selling Cultivated Ginseng

1. Decide your role before you register. A grower who sells only the root they produce has different obligations from a dealer who buys root from several growers and resells it. Many operations do both. Write down which activities you expect in the first year, then confirm with DATCP which registrations each one triggers. Do not assume that growing for a single buyer exempts you from registration.
2. Set up your business structure and tax registration. A single owner can operate under their own name, and registering a trade name other than your legal name is optional. Trade name registration through DFI costs $15 per trade name, filed online or in person. An LLC is filed with DFI, not the Secretary of State. The Articles of Organization filing fee is $130, and the LLC must file a $25 annual report each year in the quarter containing its organization anniversary. Whether your ginseng sales are taxable is a question for DOR. Register through the Wisconsin One Stop Business Portal at onestop.wi.gov, or apply directly through DOR. A seller’s permit costs $20 for the initial two-year period and $10 for each renewal.
3. Confirm land use and local rules. Ginseng is grown under shade, and shade structures can trigger zoning review. Ask your municipal clerk or county zoning office whether a permit is needed for the structure, the access drive, or any clearing. Also confirm that the land is available for agricultural use under any lease or easement you hold. Local rules vary, so do this before you build.
4. Register with DATCP as a cultivated ginseng grower. Cultivated ginseng growers must register with DATCP each year. Register before you sell root or seed to anyone, and keep the registration current in every year you are growing. Confirm any grower registration fee on the DATCP ginseng pages before you submit.
5. Plant and tend the crop through its multi-year growing cycle. Ginseng is a multi-year crop, so you will carry costs for a long time before any harvest. Keep a dated record of seed sources, bed preparation, shade installation, and any inputs you apply. Those records help you answer questions from buyers and agencies later, and they are the simplest way to show where a harvest came from.
6. Harvest and document each lot. At harvest, weigh each lot and tie it to a bed or planting record. Keep lots separate until they are sold, so a buyer or agency can trace the root back to the grower registration that covers it.
7. Obtain a Ginseng Shipment Certificate for each sale or shipment. Each sale to a Wisconsin dealer, and each shipment out of state, requires a DATCP Ginseng Shipment Certificate at $15 each under s. 94.50. Get the certificate before the root moves. Certificates are per sale or shipment, so a single buyer picking up ten separate lots may require more than one. Confirm the current request process with DATCP.
8. Register as a dealer if you buy ginseng to resell. A dealer pays a $25 annual registration under s. 94.46. A dealer who buys wild ginseng also needs a DNR wild ginseng dealer license, which is a separate requirement and is not replaced by DATCP registration.
9. Check export rules before any foreign sale. Exporting root or seed abroad requires a CITES permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Start that application well before you have a buyer waiting, because the timeline is set by the federal process, not by your sales schedule. Confirm current requirements with USFWS.

Step-by-Step: Harvesting and Selling Wild Ginseng

Wild ginseng follows a separate track through the DNR. If you dig it, you need to understand the seasonal and location limits, not just the license.

1. Buy a wild ginseng harvest license. The fee is $15.75 for a resident and $30.75 for a nonresident. Carry the license while you are digging.
2. Dig only in the legal season. Wild ginseng may be dug from September 1 to November 1. Digging outside that window is not permitted, so plan your trips around it.
3. Get landowner permission in writing. You may dig only with the landowner’s permission. Keep the written permission with you and in your records, and never dig on state land.
4. Register as a wild ginseng dealer if you buy or resell wild root. The DNR offers three classes: Class A at $100 for up to 100 pounds, Class B at $500 for up to 1,000 pounds, and Class C at $1,000 for unlimited volume. Choose the class that matches the volume you expect to handle, and confirm the threshold details with the DNR before you apply.

Tips That Save Time and Money

• Keep a single file per grower registration year. Agencies ask for the same details repeatedly, and a clean file shortens every renewal.
• Match your fees to your calendar. Dealer, shipment, and annual report fees are small individually, but they add up across many sales. Budget for them as recurring costs.
• Call before you build. A five-minute call to your local zoning office can prevent a teardown of a shade structure that did not meet local rules.
• Use the Small Business Development Center. The Wisconsin Small Business Development Center Network, at wisconsinsbdc.org, can help you think through the entity and tax questions before you file.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Treating one license as the whole process. Growers who register with DATCP sometimes assume that covers wild root, exports, or dealing. Each activity has its own requirement.
• Selling before registering. Make sure your grower registration is current before the first sale, not after the first buyer asks for paperwork.
• Moving root without a shipment certificate. A sale to a Wisconsin dealer or an out-of-state shipment needs a DATCP certificate at $15 each. Skipping it creates a problem for both you and the buyer.
• Digging wild root without written permission. Verbal permission is hard to prove. Get it in writing, and do not dig on state land.
• Assuming an out-of-state buyer simplifies the paperwork. Shipments out of state need a certificate, and exports of root or seed abroad need a CITES permit on top of that.
• Mixing wild and cultivated lots. Keep records that separate the two. Buyers and agencies treat them differently, and a mixed lot is hard to document after the fact.
• Making health claims. If you market root as a tea, supplement, or other product, FDA rules restrict disease and treatment claims. Describe the product plainly and avoid promising health outcomes.

Expected Results

Ginseng is a slow crop, and results depend on the site, the season, your management, and the buyer. Growers often describe a long period between planting and first harvest, so plan your cash flow around that wait rather than around a specific return. Prices and volumes move from year to year, and a registration does not guarantee a sale or a price. Treat any projection you see from a seller, consultant, or online forum as an estimate to test against your own records and your buyer’s terms.

With clean records, current registrations, and the right certificates for each lot, you can usually move root through the market without paperwork delays. That is the realistic outcome to plan for.

Next Steps

Start with the registration that matches your first activity. For most new growers, that means confirming land and zoning, registering with DATCP, and setting up your records before planting. Use the official pages to confirm current figures: the DFI business entity page at dfi.wi.gov, the DOR new business page at revenue.wi.gov, and the One Stop portal at onestop.wi.gov. For complex structures or a dealer operation, consult a qualified attorney or CPA before you commit.