MushroomLink Bulletin March 2023
In this edition
Autumn 2023 magazine out now
Feature: Horticulture meets robotics meets AI
Interview: Geoff Price from Giorgi Mushrooms
Podcast: CSIRO researcher Dr Damien Belobrajdic and nutritionist Dr Falvia Fayet-Moore (NRAUS) discuss the narrative around mushroom nutrition
Marketing update: 70,000 shoppers engaged with the in-store sampling program
Mushroom Link resources
AI - Revolutionising the future of mushroom farming
Mushroom farms world over struggle with labour shortages. The work is difficult and the conditions sometimes uncomfortable. In Canada, this challenge is not a recent one with the farming industry struggling with workforce shortages for at least ten years. Thanks to the revolutionary advances in technology, automation has emerged as a very real and viable solution.
Paulette Baumgartl and Dr Jenny Ekman spoke to the team behind an intelligent solution.
Mushroom farms world over struggle with labour shortages. The work is difficult and the conditions sometimes uncomfortable. In Canada, this challenge is not a recent one with the farming industry struggling with workforce shortages for at least ten years. Thanks to the revolutionary advances in technology, automation has emerged as a very real and viable solution.
Paulette Baumgartl and Dr Jenny Ekman spoke to the team behind an intelligent solution.
Breeding a better mushroom
Breeding mushrooms presents significant challenges. Improvements in quality and productivity have largely been achieved through better growing techniques, with breeding playing only a minor role. So how do you 'cross pollinate' a mushroom, as Mendel did with his famous peas? Dr Jenny Ekman investigates.
Breeding mushrooms presents significant challenges. Improvements in quality and productivity have largely been achieved through better growing techniques, with breeding playing only a minor role.
Ever since Gregor Mendel started growing sweet peas in the monastery garden in 1857, we have come to understand that the traits of parents are combined in their offspring. This is the basis of breeding programs for everything from apples to zucchini. Creating a hybrid is relatively easy to manage when cross pollinating flowers; you simply add the pollen of one flower to the stigma (female part) of the other. But how do you ‘cross pollinate’ a mushroom? Dr Jenny Ekman investigates.
Giorgi Mushroom Company
Geoff Price may be the son of our own mushroom-growing legend Graham Price, but he has definitely forged his own way in the industry. A mushroom grower since he was eight years old, perhaps it is not
surprising he’s now not only technical director of Giorgi Mushroom Company in Pennsylvania, but also chair of the American Mushroom Institute.
MushroomLink Magazine Issue 04
The MushroomLink magazine Autumn edition is available now online. If you’re not yet receiving our magazine, subscribe here for your e-copy.
Articles
Accurate identification underpins effective pest and disease control
Mushroom Bulletin February 2023
In this edition:
Mushroom farming in Ukraine
Developments in mushroom harvesting
Presentation – Gordon Rogers on the MLMRU and PCR Disease Testing
Podcast – Jack Lemmen in new developments in harvesting
MushroomLink resources
MushroomLink Bulletin January 2023
In this edition
Alternative casings and a sustainable mushroom industry
The Marsh Lawson Mushroom Research Centre
Webinar – Food safety certification: watch the recording
Podcast – Ralph Noble comments on the future of the industry
Smart Mushroom in the news
In case you missed it
Webinar Recording: Food safety certification FAQs with Clare Hamilton-Bate
Confused about food safety certification? Bombarded with requirements that are not relevant to mushrooms? Worried about the auditor coming?
Food safety expert Clare Hamilton-Bate will launch our 2023 webinar series to answer all your FAQs and bust some common myths. There will also be an opportunity to ask Clare questions at the end of the webinar.
This webinar was produced as part of the MU21003: Mushroom industry communications program project. It is funded by Hort Innovation through the Mushroom levy and Australian Government contributions.
MushroomLink Bulletin December 2022
In this edition:
MushroomLink summer issue out now
Safe mushroom certification
Introduction to food safety for mushroom farm workers
Dr Jenny Ekman at the AMGA conference
New factsheet – safe chemical storage
Upcoming webinar - Food safely certification FAQs with Clare Hamilton-Bate
Fact sheet: Storing Chemicals Safely
A new factsheet on chemical storage – and keeping your shed clean, safe and organised – is now available. The factsheet includes:
Important design elements for a good chemical shed
Tips for storing different classes of chemicals
Key inclusions for worker health and safety
Safe Mushroom – A new food safety code of practice designed for mushroom farms
Mushroom farms that are supplying the major retailers are unavoidably familiar with food safety certification programs. They may be audited to Freshcare, or another base program, with HARPS on top, plus Sedex and – potentially – other retailer-based requirements.
Anyone implementing a food safety standard on farm will know that there are a large number of criteria which have no relevance to mushroom production. For example, DDT used years ago in the bottom paddock will not affect the mushrooms, nor is the crop likely to be contaminated by passing kangaroos or leaking septic systems. Mushroom production is not made unsafe by local flooding (unless there is major damage to infrastructure), and there is no ‘planting material’ to be considered.
Third party audited food safety and quality programs can be expensive to implement and audit, especially for small growers. They include issues which may be only tangentially related to food safety – such as labelling, the potential for food fraud and worker health and safety. Keeping the required records and ensuring compliance can be a full time job for many businesses. While a requirement for supply to some customers, they are beyond the reach of smaller, family based farms.
However, food safety is just as important for somebody growing a few blocks in a shipping container as for a large, high-tech shelf farm. To the consumer, mushrooms are a commodity; they don’t differentiate one farm from another. If a food safety outbreak was to occur, it would affect the whole industry, not just the individual grower.
To bridge this gap, the MU20000 team (Extension and adoption for food safety, quality and risk management) have developed the ‘Safe Mushroom’ standard.
Whereas a standard such as Freshcare includes more than 30 pages of compliance criteria, Safe Mushrooms is just over three. This is because it only includes elements that directly affect food safety of mushrooms.
The aim was to allow small farms to demonstrate that they are following safe practices, without the time and cost of higher-level programs. To do this, the requirements have been kept as simple as possible. Growers essentially need to show that they have:
a. considered potential sources of contamination
b. implemented strategies to reduce risk and
c. kept records where appropriate
Most of these are simply good management practice, so should not impose additional costs on the business.
The team have developed examples of the information required, including farm and production facility maps, a typical operations flow chart for mushroom production, work instructions and risk assessments for growing media and casing. There are also record sheets for activities like chemical application and staff training, as well as scheduling cleaning and pest management.
The next step is to trial the program to check how easy it is to implement, and whether additions or subtractions are needed.
Free training and assistance will be provided. A second party audit will be done remotely by another member of the project team, at no cost to the business.
It should be emphasised that this program does not meet the current supply requirements of the major retailers. However, it will provide a food safety foundation and evidence that a farm is following safe practices.
Note that microbial testing of mushrooms and irrigation water is also available through project MU20000. These test results meet all food safety certification requirements (e.g. Freshcare), not just those of Safe Mushroom.
If you are interested in trialling this new program at your farm, please contact Jenny Ekman jenny.ekman@ahr.com.au or 0407 384 285
Associated Resources:
Introduction to food safety for mushroom farm workers
Food safety certification programs, such as Freshcare and HARPS, require all staff to have some basic food safety training. As a minimum, staff must be aware of basic personal hygiene requirements.
This video provides a simple, 20 minute food safety induction suitable for all new workers, regardless of whether they are driving a forklift or picking mushrooms. It explains why food safety matters, different types of hazards that might occur on a mushroom farm, and - importantly - what staff need to do to avoid contaminating the product.
Storing chemicals safely
A chemical shed may not be the most glamorous, action packed or exciting place on farm, but it can certainly give a strong impression as to how the business is run. A well-kept, clean, and orderly chemical shed suggests a clean and orderly business. An auditor encountering a dirty, disorganised shed may well expect other aspects of the food safety system to be likewise.
Mushroom farming in Ukraine
Oldest compost yard in Ukraine.
Despite the challenges of war in Ukraine, this world leader in food production is advancing rapidly with increased production capacity, poised to deliver quality mushrooms to export markets.
Alternative casings and a sustainable mushroom industry
Mushrooms are a low impact food. As vertical farms, their land footprint is small, and energy and water inputs into mushroom crops are much lower than comparable foods. Consequently, mushrooms have an excellent CO2eq rating. This ‘green’ image, coupled with great taste and an ever-growing list of health benefits, weaves a sweet narrative of mushrooms as a sustainable food source for a growing world population. There is just one little snag. Casing, or more specifically, peat casing.
Inside the Marsh Lawson mushroom research centre
Research and development underpin new technology. For the mushroom industry this is no different. A dedicated research centre is one driver of important developments, as industry seeks ways to adapt
and respond to challenges.
Developments in mushroom harvesting
Of all horticultural industries, mushroom cultivation is the most tightly controlled. Mushroom growers are not at the mercy of the weather, crop cycles are quick, and everything from moisture to atmosphere to temperature can be tweaked to optimise quality and yield.
MushroomLink Magazine Issue 03
The third issue of the new MushroomLink magazine is now available. Please contact admin@ahr.com.au to organise a hard copy version of the magazine or be put on the mailing list.
Articles:
Developments in mushroom harvesting
Inside the Marsh Lawson Mushroom Research Centre
Alternative casings and a sustainable mushroom industry
Phone a friend for on-farm help
Mushroom in-store sampling
When it comes to planning dinner, nearly half of Australian cooks are last minute larry’s, providing the perfect opportunity to remind shoppers of the wonders of mushrooms as they do their dinner shopping. With this key statistic in mind, the Hort Innovation marketing team developed the Mushroom In-Store Sampling Program.
When it comes to planning dinner, nearly half of Australian cooks are last minute larry’s, providing the perfect opportunity to remind shoppers of the wonders of mushrooms as they do their dinner shopping. With this key statistic in mind, the Hort Innovation marketing team developed the Mushroom In-Store Sampling Program.
Phone a friend for on farm help
When you have a pest or disease problem on-farm that you are unsure of, or when you need to confirm the right way forward, what do you do? For Neil Newman of Country Farm Fresh Mushrooms, the answer is as close as the computer and the phone.
When you have a pest or disease problem on-farm that you are unsure of, or when you need to confirm the right way forward, what do you do? For Neil Newman of Country Farm Fresh Mushrooms, the answer is as close as the computer and the phone.
