What’s moving the mushroom industry right now?

The mushroom sector continues to evolve at pace. Automation, labour availability and cost efficiency remain dominant themes, while growers balance innovation with reliability on the farm floor.

Below are a few developments worth watching.

1. Automation: progress, but not autonomy

Robotics in mushroom harvesting keep improving, yet fully autonomous solutions are still limited in peak and variable flush conditions. As a result, more growers are exploring hybrid harvesting models, where technology supports – rather than replaces – skilled labour. The focus is shifting from “full automation” to consistency, ergonomics and uptime.

2. Labour strategy is becoming a technical issue

Labour shortages are no longer just an HR concern. Growers are increasingly looking at technical solutions to:

• reduce physical strain
• stabilise output quality
• make harvesting work more predictable

This is influencing investment decisions in equipment, layout and workflow design.

3. Data-driven growing gains traction

Yield tracking, flush performance analysis and real-time monitoring are becoming standard tools for larger operations. What stands out: growers are less interested in dashboards, and more in actionable insights that support daily decision-making on the farm.

4. Sustainability: from ambition to optimisation

Rather than big sustainability claims, the conversation is moving toward practical optimisation:

• energy efficiency per kg
• smarter use of substrates
• longer equipment lifecycles

Incremental improvements are proving more impactful than radical overhauls.

What to watch next

In the coming months, expect more discussion around:

• hybrid harvesting as a structural solution
• the ROI of semi-automation
• technology that adapts to biological variability, instead of forcing uniformity

We’ll continue to follow these developments closely and share insights that matter to growers, farm managers and technology partners.