Farm to table: Wisconsin to China

Kirk Baumann at Baumann Farms, the largest ginseng producer in the US, is looking for partners in China for its brand products. Hezi Jiang / for China Daily

Wisconsin's state motto is Forward. And that's what it is doing with its exports to China, moving forward with products that include ginseng, cranberries and cheese, reports HEZI JIANG.

In the early 1900s, farmers in Marathon County in central Wisconsin who grow ginseng started talking about China.

Today, their grandchildren closely watch the latest news about China on trade, currency exchange and the growing middle class — and for good reason. Wisconsin is the US' largest grower of ginseng, and China is the biggest importer.

A hundred miles down south is the village of Warrens, where China was rarely brought up as a topic a decade ago among cranberry growers. In recent years, the growers have looked beyond the saturated US market to the world's second-largest economy.

And Wisconsin, known as "America's Dairyland", is promoting its artisan cheese to China.

While not many Chinese consumers have a taste for artisan cheese — US cheese consumers eat an average of 34 pounds a year, while Chinese consumers eat an average of only 2 pounds — some think it may become as popular as chocolate in China.