Mushroom Virus X Syndrome - Patch Disease and Brown Cap Mushroom Disease
Mushroom Virus X syndrome (MVX) describes a range of symptoms including delayed opening, reduced yields, distorted mushrooms and cap browning which express on cultivated Agaricus bisporus crops. MVX syndrome is now known to be a combination of two separate virus diseases – Patch Disease and Brown Cap Mushroom Disease – which can occur together and express a variable and complex symptomology. In some cases, one or two symptoms may predominate.
MVX syndrome first emerged in Britain in 1990 when mushroom crops began expressing symptoms resembling a virus infection. But established techniques used previously to detect the La France virus were unable to detect a virus responsible for the novel infection, leading researchers to investigate other causes.
Its an ill wind that blows - the impact of dust on disease management
Dust is not just the soil that gets blown around the farm from beyond the boundary fence; the exact composition of the dust is a reflection of past disease outbreaks on the farm and is an important but often overlooked aspect of disease management. This article examines dust, where it comes from, how it can affect your operation and ways of minimising its impact.
This article was originally produced for the Australian Mushrooms Journal 2021 Issue 4
Mushroom Production Waste Streams - Novel Approaches to Management and Value Creation
Dr Scott Needham, TGD Managing Director, acted as the project lead for the mushroom waste streams project and has over 25 years’ experience in performing and managing R&D and commercialising early stage scientific discoveries. During the past decade, Scott was Global Head of Investment Strategy for the US-based Intellectual Ventures’ Invention Development Fund (IDF), where he was responsible for a USD200m investment in early stage innovations.
Previously Head of Xinova Australia, a US-based innovation platform company that managed over 12,000 innovators, Scott believes in the power of utilising the best talent from around the world on projects. Scott has worked extensively for some of the worlds best known corporate clients including Fujitsu, Pepsico, AMEX, DuPont, Facebook and Mars Wrigley.
Kyle Kessler, TGD Manager, was the project manager for the mushroom waste streams project. His work blends quantitative and qualitative approaches to design technologies and businesses, and strategies that are desirable and financially viable to clients and their stakeholders.
Kyle has worked on innovation, stakeholder engagement, and agtech commercialisation projects across sectors and regions - including Hort Innovation, Meat and Livestock Australia, Dairy Australia, CSIRO, United States Department of Defence and private sector clients in the fast moving consumer goods and mining sectors.
Details:
Teaming up with Hort Innovation and Australian mushroom growers, Scott and Kyle explored commercially viable approaches to utilising spent mushroom compost or edible mushroom waste either to reduce costs or increase revenue for mushroom growers in Australia.
Using trials, new business models, open-innovation and design thinking, they developed and tested new strategies for reducing waste, increasing revenue, and cutting costs for growers.
During this presentation, Scott and Kyle will summarise how, working hand-in-hand with mushroom growers, they unearthed new opportunities to increase the value of mushroom waste, including:
Eight potential solutions that were assessed against the business needs of mushrooms growers
Four recommended solutions for further investigation
How they collaborated to develop business models to better understand costs and revenue opportunities for potential solutions
Research into current and emerging technologies from around the world.
Managing COVID-19 related risks in mushroom businesses
We are all fed up with Covid-19 dominating our lives - the serious impacts of a deadly disease and the extreme difficulties of producing and selling a rapidly growing and fragile crop when the rules change daily, state borders can snap shut any time and a single positive case in the workplace can potentially cost a business thousands of dollars.
With vaccines, we can now see some light at the end of our 19-month-long tunnel. But, how can businesses manage this new landscape? What ‘carrots’ are most effective and what ‘sticks’ can legally be used?
Join us to learn how businesses can navigate this rapidly changing and challenging environment, minimising risk to both employee health and economic viability.
Rhys Ryan: Rhys is Managing Director of Porter Novelli Australia, and leads the firm’s work in helping clients build corporate reputation.
Following an early stint as a broadcast journalist, Rhys moved into strategic communications and has developed expertise in financial services, agribusiness, retail and primary production.
He has spent significant time in the United States over the past 20 years, where he led multi-country reputation programs for global corporations and technology start-ups in New York and San Francisco.
In recent years, Rhys has led campaigns and corporate reputation programs on behalf of including Dow Chemical, the Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia, Mars, Bendigo Bank, PepsiCo, McCain Foods, Kimberly-Clark and various state and Commonwealth Government Departments.
Andrew Brooks: Andrew is an experienced employment lawyer and advisor to fast growth businesses, not-for-profits and agricultural clients of Law Squared.
Andrew is committed to helping employers and their management team deal with daily staff issues and complex legal problems as they arise during the employment life cycle: hiring, managing and firing. Andrew continues to work heavily in the agricultural sector and has been directly assisting clients navigate the world of COVID-19 vaccines in these workplaces.
The webinar is brought to you by the Mushroom industry crisis and reputation risk management project (MU20006) which is funded through the mushroom levy and contributions from the Australian government.
Peak fly season is nearly upon us - are you ready?
With the arrival of spring and, as the sap rises, thoughts turn to what the upcoming summer and autumn will bring.
Unfortunately, hot on the heels of Santa and his elves will come the peak fly season. Summer is also the time that farms experience disruptions to routines and rostering as many farm staff take holiday leave.
During this time, it is often difficult to allocate sufficient resources to perform mundane but crucial tasks such as pest and disease monitoring and spot treatments.
This article was originally produced for the Australian Mushrooms journal 2020 Issue 3
What's happening with mushrooms in China?
Join Dr Chen Liangcheng, from Sylvan International Biotechnology Co., Ltd. China division, to discover the answer.
It is said that the mushroom industry is divided between two worlds - China and the rest of the world. It is because the mushroom industry in China is unique in its size, history, research and development.
China is the largest producer and consumer of mushrooms in the world and, similar to the mushroom industry in the West, is undergoing a period of consolidation, with many new and modern farms emerging while traditional farms are receding.
The mushroom industry in China has involved many people from different backgrounds, and these people might begin to play a more important role in the international mushroom community.
There are many varieties of mushrooms in China that consumers have enjoyed for a long time and the way mushrooms are prepared and marketed in China will be interesting for us to discover in Dr Chen’s presentation.
Dr Chen Liangcheng
Born in Fujian, China, LC Chen started his mushroom career with Sylvan in 1996 as the representative to China, being responsible for developing the Chinese market and introducing western cultivation technology to China. He gained experience in the cultivation of button mushrooms, enoki and king oyster, among others.
Chen obtained his doctorate in agronomy, majoring in mushrooms, at Jilin Agricultural University under the guidance of Prof. Li Yu, an academician of engineering in China. He developed optimised cultivation conditions for Flammulina velutipes in bags and feed additives from mushrooms for enhancing animal immunity in his research.
Being in the mushroom industry for over 25 years, and knowing what is going on in the industry in both China and abroad, Chen has been invited to speak on the development of the Chinese mushroom industry at conferences around the world.
Currently, Chen works as the Deputy General Manager of Sylvan China, in charge of R&D as well as spawn production.
Internal Stipe Necrosis
Internal Stipe Necrosis was recognised in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a significant emerging threat to the United Kingdom mushroom industry.
With the A. bisporus wholesale market at the time valued at around £250 million, losses of up to 10% were reported by some United Kingdom mushroom producers with one grower estimating the incidence of Internal Stipe Necrosis on his farm totalled 0.3% of mushrooms harvested at the button stage and 5.6% of mushrooms harvested at the open, flat cap stage.
Internal Stipe Necrosis has been observed sporadically on Australian mushroom farms over the past 10 years or so and its appearance is consistent with the widespread adoption of wetter and heavier black peat as a significant component of mushroom casing.
The disorder expresses as an unsightly browning and necrosis of internal stipe tissue which cannot be detected before harvest, resulting in significant loss of quality.
Mushrooms for healthy diets – what’s new with with nutritionist and dietitian Dr Flavia Fayet-Moore
Dr Flavia Fayet-Moore is a registered nutritionist, Accredited Practising Dietitian, board-certified Lifestyle Medicine Professional, and Honorary Associate of the University of Sydney. Flavia graduated from the University of Toronto with an Honours Bachelor of Science in Nutritional Sciences and obtained both her Master of Nutrition and Dietetics and PhD in nutrition from the University of Sydney.
Since completing her PhD, Flavia has focused her research and advocacy work on nutritional epidemiology, micronutrients, and bioactives; she used her findings to promote a food-first approach to address public health’s biggest problems, including Vitamin D deficiency, anaemia, and chronic disease.
Flavia is passionate about improving the health of Australians, especially among children and adolescents, through research and its translation. She is a member of the Nutrition Society of Australia, the Dietitian’s Association of Australia, and is a founding board member and fellow of the Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine.
The presentation includes:
Overview of medicinal use of mushrooms - for the immune system, as an antibiotic, in healing wounds and for mental health
Health effects in humans - what’s the evidence?
What is unique in mushrooms that’s relevant and what it means - Ergosterol (and vitamin D), Chitin (prebiotic fibre), Ergothioneine
Health effects with a focus on three - Vitamin D status, gut health and cancer
Where do mushrooms fit within current recommendations?
Spent mushroom compost as casing soil with Mohammad Mirzadeh
Mohammad Mirzadeh discusses his experience recycling spent compost for use in casing materials
MU19005 - New innovations to improve mushroom whiteness shelf life
Key research provider: Applied Horticultural Research
During 2020, this investment investigated new innovations to improve and maintain mushroom whiteness, looking at both pre- and post-harvest factors. A grower-focused Best Bets Guide was produced that outlines the most effective technologies, techniques and strategies that mushroom growers can use on-farm to improve and maintain mushroom whiteness, with information to improve handling and management through the supply chain as well.
Presenting clean, white mushrooms to consumers at retail is a proven method of increasing sales. Conversely, browning mushrooms lack freshness, appearing damaged or near the end of storage life. Improving and maintaining whiteness has the potential to boost sales and reduce waste, and ultimately increase the profitability of the mushroom sector.
The project team conducted a detailed desktop study on mushroom whiteness. Peer reviewed literature on mushroom quality has increased immensely in the last few years, with substantial information about the cellular and metabolic process involved in the browning of mushrooms, along with a wide range of methods to slow this process.
As well as detailing the causes of browning, the project’s study thoroughly reviewed pre-harvest, harvest and post-harvest strategies to improve whiteness at harvest and retain colour through the supply chain.
Promising areas requiring further work to achieve commercialisation have been identified, along with proven methods that industry could adopt right now.
Project outputs
Access the Best Bets Guide on the industry resource website AGORA.
Read this article about the project’s results in the Summer 2020 edition of Australian Mushrooms Journal.
Detergent & farm sanitation
Starting a new crop in a room free of pests and pathogens is the most potent and cost-eff effective tool for disease management on the mushroom farm, but it doesn’t come easily. Grow room sanitation has two distinct stages – cleaning and disinfection.
Too often, we expect our disinfectants to do the heavy lifting and presume they will eradicate the majority of the pathogens. After all, their job is to kill pathogens. But the truth is, it is the cleaning process before disinfection that removes the majority of the microbes and pathogens from a heavily soiled environment and not the disinfectant.
This article was originally produced for the Australian Mushroom Journal issue 2 2021
Australian Mushroom Industry - Can nitrogen be better managed in compost production
Button mushrooms contain high levels of minerals, vitamins and antioxidants, but are also an excellent source of protein. With 19 - 35% protein per gram of dry weight, they contain more protein than rice (7.3%), wheat (13 %) or milk (25%), and the high content of essential amino acids also means that button mushroom proteins are 90-98% as nutritious as most meat protein.
The nitrogen required to build these proteins comes from the compost, partly from raw materials such as manure, and partly from supplements added later in the process. The carbon:nitrogen ratio in the starting compost mix is usually set to between 30:1 and 35:1, which is optimal for growth of the microbes that convert the straw into productive compost, but only about 12-15% of this nitrogen finishes up in the mushroom crop that goes to market.
This webinar will discuss how nitrogen is transformed into mushroom protein during composting and cropping, where losses occur, and how changes in starting materials or composting processes might be used to increase compost productivity and the nutritional value of the mushroom crop.
Climate change and the Australian mushroom industry – risk, adaptation and opportunities
Climate change and its impact are back in the world debate. Although mushrooms would seem less affected by climate change than other crops – being protected from extremes of weather, the industry remains vulnerable to climate-related risks.
There are also climate-related opportunities to reduce costs and improve the environmental performance of the Australian mushroom industry. E.g., onsite energy generation, new growing substrates and water recycling. Adopting new technologies can reduce costs, sidestep production limitations, and enhance the industry's “green” image.
Join Dr Jenny Ekman, Liam Southam-Rogers and Adam Goldwater who will explain why what’s good for the environment, can also be good for your business when they summarise the outcomes of the levy funded project “Understanding and managing the impacts of climate change on Australian mushroom production”.
Lecanicillium fungicola– Dry Bubble disease
Dry Bubble is the common name given to a serious fungal disease affecting cultivated Agaricus bisporus crops. It is caused by the soil-borne mycoparasites Lecanicillium fungicola var fungicola (syn: Verticillium fungicola; Verticillium malthousei) which is found in Europe and Lecanicillium fungicola var aleophilum which is more common in North American Agaricus crops, including Agaricus bitorquis. Dry Bubble is consistently the most significant problem facing growers wherever button mushrooms are grown, including Australia.
Lecanicillium fungicola was first identified as a mushroom pathogen in France in 1892 and was described as the causal agent of ‘La mole’ disease, the French term for what we now refer to as Dry Bubble. But despite more than 130 years since its first appearance, Dry Bubble continues to have a detrimental impact on mushroom production. The disease causes significant losses estimated at 2-4% of total revenue annually and poor control of the disease may result in losses approaching 20-25% or more, while uncontrolled disease can result in farm closure.
Mushroom Virus Disease - Biology and Epidemiology
Viruses are essentially non-living particles that need to exist inside a host to be able to survive and multiply. Two virus diseases of Agaricus bisporus are known:
La France disease, first recorded in 1948 in the United States.
Mushroom Virus X (MVX) disease, first recorded in the United Kingdom in 1996.
… If virus disease is not identified early and management strategies implemented, virus infected mushroom spores will accumulate on farm, creating disease reservoirs.
This Article was originally produced for the Australian Mushroom Journal Issue 4 2020.
Mushroom Virus - Frustrating and costly
This Article was originally produced for the Australian Mushroom Journal Issue 4 2020.
Reviewing the factors that improve mushroom whiteness
For mushrooms, whiteness signals quality. It may also be assumed to indicate storage life, flavour and freshness. Presenting clean, white mushrooms to consumers is a proven way to increase sales. Conversely, browning on mushrooms is definitely a negative. Browning may be due to disease, bruising, dehydration or simply age and senescence.
Project MU19005 has reviewed the factors that improve mushroom whiteness, from the time compost and casing are prepared through to harvest and packing. The result is a combination of strategies growers can use right now, techniques that are close to commercialising and advances to watch into the future.
Dr Jenny Ekman will summarise the results from this review and discuss some of the “Best Bets” growers can use to improve mushroom whiteness.
Recycled organics as an alternative to peat in mushroom casing
The Australian mushroom industry uses approximately 25,000 tonnes of peat casing every year. Mostly imported from Europe or Canada at a cost of $300 per tonne, peat is both an expensive and limited resource.
Compost made from recycled organics is locally available and cheaper than peat.
Join Adam Goldwater from Applied Horticultural Research for a webinar where he will present the results of the recent trials of commercially viable white mushroom crops cased with blends of composted recycled organics and peat.
This is a Waste Less Recycle More initiative funded from the waste levy.
Getting the best from your cookout
As mushroom crops mature, pest and pathogen levels increase so that by the end of the crop, the pathogen population reaches its maximum (Fletcher & Gaze 2008). Effective crop termination is essential to reduce the pathogen population, allowing the next crop to ‘start clean’ and to break the cycle of diseases, such as Dry Bubble, which are perpetuated by continual on-farm re-infection.
By far the most effective termination procedure is cookout in situ, where the crop is treated undisturbed in the grow room with steam. An effective cookout prevents contamination of subsequent and adjacent crops which occurs when spent substrate contaminated with viable pathogens, pests and their larvae is removed from a grow room (Beyer 2018).
Cookout must kill pests and pathogens within the compost and netting on shelf farms and within the compost and tray timbers on tray farms. Cookout must also kill Agaricus mycelium and spores within the compost and tray timbers to prevent spread of virus diseases.