Sage wisdom still rings true: If it were easy, everybody would be doing it. That’s the case with growing fresh-market baby ginger, as a recent study by the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program discovered.

Fresh-market baby ginger produced in protected cultures in northern New York sells for four times the price of conventional ginger sold in stores — as much as $16 to $18 a pound. Some farms in the region grow it on a small scale for Community Supported Agriculture enterprises or farmers market sales.

‘Buyers enjoy the pleasant, light and surprisingly fresh taste of northern New York-grown ginger,” noted Cornell Cooperative Extension Marketing Specialist Bob Weybright. “Small-volume, high-margin ginger sales for fresh-market sales appear feasible for farmers with high-tunnel or greenhouse structures.”

Then came his disclaimer: This high-return income opportunity doesn’t necessarily support large-scale production expansion without evaluating if value-added processing extends crop value beyond its short fresh-harvest window. That would require expensive, involved value-added processing such as dehydration, freeze drying, or products such as candied, crystalized or pickled ginger.

One way to expand the sales window would be to portion and freeze pieces. With a number of markets having frozen meat sales, this could be considered an option, added the market analyst.

Weigh production limitations
Here are a few concerns raised during on-farm trials and raised in a Northern New York Ag Development Program study, “Ginger new high-value fresh market crop.”

The full Advancing Season Extension and Protected Culture Efficiency Project study is posted at nnyagdev.org.