Small farms are constantly challenged to maintain profitabilty and diversity

Production of plants currently wild collected and considered endangered/threatened offer opportunities for small farms. Hydrastis canadensis (goldenseal) is a good example. Overcollection of goldensealfrom the wild has been a concern since the early 1900's culminating in its placement on the convention on international trade in endangered species in 1997. Multiple production methods which attempt to mimic its natural shade habitat have been developed but due to long production cycle times (fourto six years to maturity), limited planting stock, and lack of profitability these methods have failed to meet market need.based on long term observations and preliminary data this project hypothesizes that instead of viewing goldenseal as a shade loving plant, a more accurate comcept would be that IT is more of a heat avoiding plant and if given adequate cooling will flourish under the bright lights of an indoor controlled enviroment. If this is correct, a very efficient method of production could be developed. In order to determine if this is feasible experiments will be conducted to determine yield/cost information and facilityand equipmentneeds. If that data indicates predetermined objectives have been achieved, the system will be used to commercially produce goldenseal under a production contract offer from a major goldenseal buyer.successfully achieving these goals will provide the basis for new growers to adopt controlled environment production of goldenseal as a part of their farm plan and, in the long term, potentially eliminatethe need for wild collected goldenseal to meet market demand.