OPPORTUNITIES IN OZARKS WILD ORGANICS

1. OPPORTUNITIES IN OZARKS WILD ORGANICS www.wildcrops.com

2. Rural Possibilities Income from native plants Conserserving Biodiversity with Certified Wild Crops Goods From The Woods WILDCROPS.com

4. Safe Cosmetics and personal care Natural and organic personal care growth rate of 22% $5 billion. (2005) Nationwide herbal and botanical supplement sales totaled $4.8 billion in 2007, when the recession began, up 4.3 percent over 2006 The Green Movement

5. studies came out about toxic chemcials personal care products, especially as those products also used for children. Chemical scares with lead and contimanated imported foods and toys. People want safer products and the word “organic” sales on any consumer good. People lost health insurance and started treating themselves, and now we have a major health concern. (Immediate demands for elderberry, skullcap and St. Johnswort) What Happened to increase demand for Organic Certified botanicals growth

6. The Natural Marketing Institute (NMI) reports: that retail sales within the U.S. consumer packaged goods health and wellness industry reached $79 billion in 2005 Natural/organic personal care also showed a notable growth rate of 22%, growing $5 billion. Natural Health and BeautyGrowth

7. Functional/Fortified Foods & Beverages: $29.4 billion (26% growth)Vitamins, Minerals, Herbal & Dietary Supplements: $19.6 billion (3% growth)Organic Foods/Beverages: $12.8 billion (17% growth)Natural Foods/Beverages: $12.4 billion (11% growthNatural/Organic Personal Care: $4.9 billion (22% growth) New Pressures

8. Growth in Certified Manufactures and Handlers 70 to 80% of the material is not coming from growers, but from whole sellers American Land Certifie For Organic Production

9. 1995 there were 90,295 certified for organic herbal production 2004 there were 5,250 95% reduction in certified U.S. Acrage for herbal Production http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/OrganicHandlers/Procurement.aspx DRAMATIC DECLINE IN CERTIFIED HERBAL PRODUCTION

10. Policy confusion about whether or not herbal supplements, herbal products and health / beauty were "agricultural products” Said ingredients could be certified but that regulations or enforcement applied only to agricultural products, which did not include FDA types of product. Huge pressures for some US agency to regulate certification enforcement, will most likely be USDA. Changes in National Organic Program

11. Dealers are not willing to pay for certified production: Some recent pricing: .05 Mullin Leaf $1.00 Dried Witch Hazel Leaf $.50 Witch Hazel Bark $1.00 Echinacea Problems in Organic BotanicalProduction

12. Labor Supplier Chains Lack of Science!! Organic Processing Facilities Need to work cooperatively with other certified wild producers due to harvest limitations ENFORCEMENT OF ORGANIC INSPECTION and AUDITS, Training of Inspecters for wild crops Problems

13. WILD CROPUSDA National Organic What is a “WILD CROP” Any plant or portion of a plant that is collected or harvested from a site that is not maintained under cultivation or other agricultural management.

14. (a) A wild crop that is intended to be sold, labeled, or represented as organic must be harvested from a designated area that has had no prohibited substance, as set forth in § 205.105, applied to it for a period of 3 years immediately preceding the harvest of the wild crop. (b) A wild crop must be harvested in a manner that ensures that such harvesting or gathering will not be destructive to the environment and will sustain the growth and production of the wild crop. Management of Wild Crops. 205.207 Wild-crop harvesting practice standard.

15. International Standard for Sustainable Wild Collection of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants [ISSC-MAP]). 1. The plant population would not decrease because of the collection. 2. Neither methods of collection nor the quantities harvested impair the plant species’ ability to regenerate. 3. Sustainability of a certain harvest quantity was determined by an independent expert. (We hired a restoration ecologist to assist with our yield per acre targets.) 4. For each plant/part of plant a detailed description of the collecting methods was included – used for witch hazel and expanded to St. John's Wort. 5. For each plant/part of plant there is the need to define how much of each plant/of the whole population can be collected without endangering the whole plant population. 6. The collection does not damage other plants nor encourage erosion.

16. Our Wild Harvest Plan • Before and after harvest photos GPS coordinates for daily harvest records • Log of daily man hours per harvest area (because people can only harvest so much per man hour) • Hired a restoration ecologist to determine sustainable harvest yields projected of plant species, impacts on water shed and other species in the habitation.

17. Listed everything we Thought might be reasonable to harvest. Then develop the harvest plan and be accountable during audits. Certified 200+ Species

18. For 2008, we targeted 500 lbs per acre This target ended up being highly conservative and four times that material could have been removed without compromising the sustainability. 647 wet lbs of Witch Hazel 20 man hours from 3 acres of certified organic forest, for an average of 32 lbs per man hour. 8 lbs per gallon and was used to create a total of 60 gallons of witch hazel hydrodsol. SARE Assistance

19. Witch hazel

20. Suntan Lotions Depilatories Skin Refreshers Soothing Foot Soaks *Pharmaceutical* Antiperspirant Foot Sprays Sun-Blocks (Sunscreens) Germicidal Skin Cleansers Acne Care Products Skin Protectants Personal Cleansing Pads Mouthwashes / Toothgels Antiperspirant Sprays & Witch Hazel Used Than Any Other Botanical Ingredient In The World • Bath Splashes Conditioning Bath Gels • Foaming Skin Cleansers • Clear Bar Soaps • Hand Lotions & Creams • Silicone Barrier Creams • Shaving Creams • - • Analgesic Creams, Lotions & Gels • Psoriasis Creams • Insect Bite Relief Products • Topical Antibacterials

24. Our on-farm processing facility

26. Challenges Had to make our own equiptment and modify for Organic certification

27. Packaging • Mailing Liquids • Organic quailty • Customer Expectations • Setback with HDP

28. Calls ever week, 1,000 gallons plus requested Want 50 lb plus lots of botanicals Not capable of working in at this scale Cannot Meet Demands of mid to large manufactures

29. Private Lable Natural Health and Beauty Bath & Body Care Baby Care Aromatherpay Handmade Soaps Herbal balms and salves Herbal Home Pet Care Small BusinesssStart ups wanting to produce certified organic product

30. Wild Harvested Yarrow Floral Water 220 wet lbs of yarrow flowers were harvested over the course of 30 man hours from approximately 1 1/2 acre of uncertified land for an average of 7.33 lbs per man hour. This raw material was distilled at a rate of 8 lbs per gallon and was used to create a total of 4 gallons of yarrow hydrodsol and 1 oz of essential oil. Man hours associated with value-added production included processing raw material for distillation, loading the unit, monitoring quality, decanting, clean up and record keeping. This would account for approximately 4 hours per run and a yield of 4 gallons of floral water and 45 mils of essential oil in the distillation. This floral water was offered in 1 pint containers at $12.50 ($800.00) and the essential oil was sold in 1 mil vials for $5.00 per vial. Approximately 1/2 ($100.00) of the essential oil was sold with the remainder going for personal use and free samples to potential clients. Total gross value $900.00, 7 man hours. This product was popular and certification was not paramount to selling the material. The value of the harvest was purchased from the farm at $1.50 per pound. Approximately 198 lbs of material was frozen and has not been distilled Other Partners and Harvests

31. Other Farms and Findings Yarrow Flowers Hickory Nuts Mondarda Fistulosa

32. Separating EOs

33. Excellent Profit, but unless there is either 20 plus acres of easily collected material or other wildcrops populations w/ the farm plan, certification is not that important. This is a “potentially worth while certified property.” Yarrow

34. Hickory Nuts • Hickory Nuts 12 man hours were spent collecting 327 lbs of shagbark hickory nuts on approximately 3 acres. From these nuts, approximately 35 lbs of hickory nut meats were produced and sold for $12.00 per pound. The nut meats were obtained in the course of watching football on Saturday and Sunday. It took approximately 2 hours to shell one lb of nut meats. These nut meats were sold at $12.00 lb for a gain. However, not all the nuts were processed into nut meats and the ratio of raw nuts to nut meats runs about 3.5 lbs to 1.

35. Farmer's Markets Resturants Very Happy to get wild foods Certification not important as face to face sales were the key Berries Mushrooms Nuts and Spring Greens Wild Foods as a supplemental Income

36. Monarda Fistulosa • Monarda fistulosa 63 lb of flower heads were harvested over 8 man hours. Distillation has not been completed. The material has been frozen for future work.

37. Market Issues – Must Value Add

38. Mondarda Fistulosa • Anti bacterial • Anti Fungal • Anti Virous • Floor and Carpets • Cleaning Products

39. Economy of Scale Must have labor Must have cental wild product on land Processing facitity a must Shared facility Value Added Product No Wholesale to botanical buyers Criteria For Wild Crop Certification

40. Certification for GROUP Processing • Central Processing Facility to serve all wild crop farms. • Not feasible for each farm to develop their own processing when starting. • GFTW Cert was on-farm only and to start, other certs too costly.

41. Group Harvests, shared products from land

42. U- Pick Herbal Tours and Native Plant Education Core group of friends working to develop products and using private lable agreements People pick from certified property

43. NO INPUTS!!!!!!!!! Dried or fresh product can be stored(frozen) Easy shipping Distillation can be done year round LIGHT WEIGHT!!!! Many Choices for value added materials Expanding market Advantages to Farmers

44. Community benefits of Wild Organic • . • Land use: industrialized vrs. Sustainable • Protecting Habitat through reconnecting small farmers to native plant species. • Connection between human's economic needs and development

45. Our Favorite!! • http://www.ifcae.org/cgi-bin/ntfp/db/dbsql/db.cgi?db=prod&uid=default