My home state is well-known as America’s Dairyland (contrary to what those commercials say). You may also know that Wisconsin is #2 in cranberry production. Cheeseland is also third for potato production.
One of the more interesting production crops in ginseng. It not unusual to see a couple of acres covered with the signature black mesh. It seems that our ginseng growers are having problem with counterfeiting; not of the root, but of the seal designating the product is from Wisconsin. Forbes has the whole story.
Todd,
Forbes doesn’t tell the whole story, but this story from the Journal-Sentinel a few weeks ago does:
I think the most interesting aspect is that for decades Wisconsin growers maintained price support through tight control of the seed stock, much like the Chinese controlled silk prices in the 1800s through tight control of the silk worm population. In both cases, once the economic incentive got big enough, someone found a way to subvert the controls.