Dill
Answered by: Richard Alan Miller
Question from: Chris Mortenson
Posted on: November 23, 1999

I don’t know if you remember me or not but you gave Dan Vagle and I some information on growing herbs up here in Northwestern Minnesota and just to get use to the herbs, we grew some test plots to see which ones grew the best up here. Out of 7 varieties, Dill was the best one and grew like there was no tomorrow. Now what I was wondering is what kind of market there is for dill and if you could find a buyer for us. And if there is, would we be able to bale it and ship it in 50 lb. bales?

Your help in getting us started in this is greatly appreciated!! I am not making it in conventional farming so I truly hope that this will be the start of something fun and profitable!!! But if you don’t see that Dill is going to be profitable, please let me know so we can arrange for some other herbs that might work well for us.

Weren’t you and Dan Vagle at the Acres, USA Conference last year? Or was this at the Richters Conference? Old age and my memory.... Dill looks very marketable, especially when most of the primary buyers are in your region (like A. M. Todd & Co.). Current market trends indicate the market is up right now.

Foreign productions hold prices firm, while the food trade puts some demand on new uses. The two which are marketed commercially are Anethum graveolens L. (European Dill and American Dill), and Anethum sowa Roxb. (Indian Dill). More than 10,000 acres are currently in cultivation just in North America alone.

Price for Dill Weed Herb (dried) is $1.64/lb., FOB. Fresh (for caning) is $2.50/lb., FOB, with COG tags bringing up to $4.50/lb., FOB. Seeds (dried) is $0.82/lb., FOB, while COG is $1.05/lb., FOB Dill Seed Oil is $16.40/lb., FOB, and Dill Weed Oil is $14.00/lb., FOB. It’s easy to grow, and should be worth the effort.

I have detailed Crop Reports on how to grow this profitably. How else can I help?

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