The mushroom industry is entering a digital era. What was once guided solely by intuition, experience, and manual labor is now increasingly supported by sensors, automation, and data analytics. From substrate preparation to harvest, smart farming tools are reshaping how fungi are grown, making production more precise, efficient, and sustainable than ever before.

Precision growing in every layer

Inside modern growing rooms, environmental control systems are evolving into intelligent ecosystems. Sensors monitor temperature, humidity, CO₂ levels, and air circulation in real time. Artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms then adjust these factors automatically, ensuring ideal conditions for each growth phase.

This precision doesn’t just boost yields, it reduces energy consumption and minimizes human error. Instead of reacting to issues after they occur, farmers can anticipate and prevent them, achieving higher consistency and quality across crops.

Data as the new substrate

For decades, mushroom cultivation relied heavily on experience, the grower’s eye and intuition. Those remain invaluable, but now they’re being amplified by data. Smart platforms can collect thousands of data points per day, translating them into actionable insights: when to ventilate, irrigate, or adjust temperature.

Some farms use cloud-based dashboards that visualize performance across different growing rooms or even multiple sites. Others are experimenting with machine learning to recognize growth patterns and predict harvest times with remarkable accuracy.

In short, the farm is learning, and so are the fungi.

Automation lightens the load

Labor shortages have long been a concern in the mushroom sector. Smart technologies are helping to bridge that gap. Automated systems can handle repetitive or heavy tasks such as substrate loading, climate adjustments, or even mushroom picking with robotic precision.

While full automation isn’t feasible for every operation, even partial adoption, for example, using camera-guided monitoring or automated watering, significantly reduces workload while improving consistency. The result: growers can focus more on strategy, quality, and innovation instead of routine maintenance.

A sustainable shift

Beyond efficiency, smart farming supports a more sustainable production model. By fine-tuning environmental parameters, farms use less energy and water. Precise climate control minimizes waste, and optimized substrate management helps reduce contamination rates.

For forward-thinking producers, data also helps demonstrate sustainability performance to customers and investors, turning eco-efficiency into a measurable, marketable advantage.

The human touch remains

Even in the smartest farms, technology doesn’t replace people, it empowers them. Successful growers combine digital insights with hands-on experience and instinct. The art of mushroom cultivation remains rooted in understanding living organisms; technology simply provides new tools to nurture them better.

The road ahead

Smart farming in mushrooms is still in its early stages, but the direction is clear. With each innovation, whether AI-driven control, autonomous harvesters, or cloud-based analytics. the boundary between biology and technology grows thinner.

As these systems become more accessible and affordable, farms of all sizes can benefit from the data revolution. The result? Smarter farms, smarter fungi, and a more resilient, sustainable future for the entire mushroom industry.

By Mushroom Matter

Soon we will also be able to build houses with the influence of mushrooms.

Researchers have made a brick from mushrooms. The building material we know today is not good for the environment due to the emission of carbon dioxide. This 'mushroom brick' in below video of Verge Sience is carbon neutral and you can see how this stone was created.

In May 2020, the Shiitake Biltong team from Maastricht took part in the student competition Ecotrophelia. They have continued to develop new food products. Soon they hope to start their own company that will enter the market with potato chips based on mushrooms.

For Ecotrophelia, the group of Maastricht students presented a vegetarian variant of the biltong which is popular in South Africa; a snack consisting of dried strips of meat that resembles beef jerky. The students won the Dutch final with it and were also allowed to present the idea during the European final.

After the team took another critical look at the idea, the students came to the conclusion that shiitake as a raw material was not such a smart choice. Good shiitake is hard to get and must be imported from Asia. That is expensive and not really sustainable.

The team went back to work and now opted for raw materials from a Dutch residual flow. They developed mushrooms based on pieces of sliced ​​mushrooms. The idea has been elaborated in a business plan, contacts have been made with suppliers, buyers and a possible producer. At this time the production process is optimized and the students are about to start their own company.

Source: Foodholland (article is in Dutch)

Since May 2019, after it’s festive opening, the Lambert Spawn plant in The Netherlands is operative and has been supplying the European, Russian and Chinese market since then. Ies Hooglugt and his team have been improving and increasing the sales step by step.

On January 1st 2021 Guido Stevens joined the Lambert Spawn family. Guido Stevens will be responsible for the sales, customer service and other commercial activities. This will give Ies Hooglugt the chance to invest more time in the development of the company, new markets and innovations. Guido has worked for 4 years in the mushroom industry in positions within export and sales He is 27 years young, enthusiastic and full of new ideas; and brings a broad experience in sales, export, marketing and customer service to the table.

Lambert Spawn is market leader in Northern America and wants to increase it’s market share in Europe, Russia, Middle- and Far East. With their premium quality products they have been the mushroom growers resource since 1919, when Lambert Spawn was founded as America’s oldest independent spawn company. But; with the most modern spawn factory in the world.

Premium quality products and customer service are two important pillars of Lambert Spawn. Therefor Lambert Spawn will keep investing in both of these areas to bring even more additional service to their partners worldwide. Consultation and guidance in combination with premium quality spawn to reach the best yields will be the key.

For more information feel free to visit their website.
And you can also follow their Facebookpage.

Adidas has announced it’s launching a line of sneakers made from mushroom-based leather.

As part of a 2021 sustainability initiative from Europe’s largest sportswear manufacturer, the new Stan Smiths will be entirely vegan, and created using mycelium: that is, the vegetative part of fungi that produces mushrooms.

On December 28, the German multinational announced that “adidas seeks to break new ground: Together with partners, adidas is developing a new material, a purely biological leather alternative made from mycelium, and will use it for the very first time in the creation of footwear.”

This isn’t the company’s first foray into vegan footwear. In 2020, Adidas launched plant-based versions of several classic sneakers, which quickly became bestsellers. Now it’s completely renounced the use of fur in all products, and it’s working with partners on other sustainability projects that include recycling cotton and developing a “particularly climate-friendly running shoe” as part of a drive that will see 60% of all Adidas products in 2021 being made with sustainable materials.

Please read the full article here.

Source: Good News Network

The Mushroom Company is one of North America's largest mushroom processors. Over the last 90 years it has built a reputation for high-quality, innovative products and superior dedicated customer service. The Mushroom Company's product capabilities range from individually quick-frozen (IQF) to canning, blanching, blending, and roasting mushrooms and other vegetables. It primarily serves the food service and industrial markets, where its mushrooms end up on pizzas, in soups, and on various quick and casual-service restaurant menus.

"We are excited to join the South Mill Champs family," said Dennis Newhard, President of The Mushroom Company. "Over the last few years, SMC has shown exceptional leadership in innovation and growth in the mushroom industry. We look forward to supporting and further expanding SMC's capabilities and product innovation. Our industry is experiencing strong growth as consumers continue to recognize the significant health and environmental benefits of mushrooms. We believe the future is bright and this combination gives us the resources to continue to be an industry leader."

Please read the full article here.

Source: South Mill Champs

Blue mushroom trays will be removed from the shelf and will be replaced by circular packaging
The famous blue mushroom trays are sold from supermarkets. Verstappen developed a new packaging line for mushrooms and mushrooms for Albert Heijn. The trays are completely transparent and consist of 100% recycled PET bottles. With this, Verstappen is taking another step in making business operations and the production of packaging materials more sustainable.

Circular process
The new packaging from Verstappen contributes to the circular economy to which the company attaches great value. Mieke Verstappen, director of Verstappen explains: “The great thing about this innovation is that the plastic used has already been in the shops as consumer packaging and is extremely suitable for making new food packaging. In this way we can permanently reuse the material. A perfect example of the circular economy. ”

Please read the full article (in Dutch) here.

Source: Duurzaam Ondernemen

Designer Nina Bruun shapes biotech firm Grown's mushroom-based material for the safe carriage of Astep lighting.

One of the key aims of Wallpaper* Re-Made is to re-think the way we consume, and packaging is a crucial link in this story. Last year, a chat with Alessandro Sarfatti led to a discussion about what he perceived to be an important problem. Coming from a family of lighting experts (he is the grandson of design legend Gino Sarfatti, of Arteluce, see W* 218 and son of Luceplan founder Riccardo Sarfatti), and founder of a lighting brand himself, he is well aware of the amount of plastic needed to transport lighting pieces.

Sarfatti, who used to be CEO of Luceplan, founded Astep in 2014, intent on creating lighting products with contemporary designs and innovative technologies to improve our domestic experience and quality of life.

Please read the full article here.

Photography: Mikkel Vigholt Petersen
Writer: Rosa Bertoli

picture: Natuurvleescoöperatie Westerkwartier

The province of Groningen has made a subsidy of 27,000 euros available for the new Natural Meat Cooperation Westerkwartier. In addition, 15,000 euros also goes to the cultivation of organic shiitake mushrooms.

The natural meat cooperative is part of the Westerkwartier Area Cooperation. In the natural meat cooperative, ten dairy farmers and five meat farmers are currently working together with the Forestry Commission and the Kroon Meat slaughterhouse in Groningen, says chairman Alex Datema. The farmers bring in bulls that would normally go to veal farming. Most are 50 percent Belgian Blue. They are geostated and slaughtered at the age of two years.

The animals walk either on the cattle farmers' own land or on a 25-hectare site of Forest Commission that the Cooperative uses. That area can still expand. "A lot of natural land is currently being laid out in the Westerkwartier, and in this way they continue to be used for agriculture," he explains.

100 in 2021
Two years ago, in the run-up to the official foundation, farmers already started keeping bulls. The first bulls have already been slaughtered and the quality was good, according to Datema. "We can probably slaughter 40 this year and around 100 next year," he expects.

For selling the meat, the cooperation is now also joining forces with Kroon Meat. The subsidy will be used to further expand the organization and to develop a market concept aimed at regional sales. Groningen farmers who are interested in taking part can register via the cooperations website.

Tree trunks
In addition, the province is investing in shiitake mushrooms as meat substitutes. The company Igro starts working in Tjuchem with the organic cultivation of shiitake. They are commonly grown on straw and sawdust, which has the disadvantage that too many residues are left in the mushroom, according to the province.
Igro wants to grow them on tree trunks from the Forest Commission. Grafting is done with the help of staff from social workplaces. If the method turns out to be effective, this cultivation can become an easily accessible additional form of income with a good yield for arable farmers whoi have some space on their land, according to the province.

Source: Agrio -Veldpost
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