The corona crisis makes traveling for a consultant difficult, if not impossible. That is why the question asked by Marco Deckers came just in time.
Henk, we are looking at picking on a different angle on our farm. GTL Europe is building my new farm with the tilting shelf system and we are creating a sparring team to start this up.
Now, that’s what I call a challenge.

The system is so completely different that picking has to be re-designed.
The pickers are not standing sideways to the shelf but they are facing it and they have to learn to pick with two hands at the same time.
At the same moment we have to get them on a level where they can work in a high tech environment where they have to keep an eye on moving belts, tilting shelves and moving trollies. And yes, they also have to learn how to pick mushrooms at a good speed.

The first thing we did was to create a good team of new pickers and new supervisors. Because also in supervising the job is different. It is very simple to control quality and size of mushrooms because every mushroom you see coming out of the room on the conveyor belt has just been picked. So corrections on size or quality can be made immediately. You do not have to wait for the first trays of mushrooms to come out of the room. So supervising is easier. The biggest change for the supervisor in this case is more in the logistic and technical areas.
For the pickers the change is bigger.
Picking with two hands sounds nice but everyone is either right- or left handed. Only few people are double handed in their natural movement. This means that every picker has a preference to pick most mushrooms with one hand and a few in the other hand.
But this was actually easier to learn than expected. One thing that helps is the picking position. The height can per perfect so the picker does not have to bend the lower back or overstretch arms. It was simply a trick the had to learn. A mind set to position the arms that way as if it is one movement. The one thing they had to learn was to pick within eyesight and keep the arms together.

All together it is surprising to see that most of the pickers like the system a lot. Picking is fast and at the end of the day nobody is complaining about neck or shoulder problems. The usual complaints of a picker after a long day of picking. It has to be said though that the picker has to be told to put the platform at the right position. Pickers all over the world are a bit stubborn and if it is nearly right, for them it is okay. But it may not be the perfect position.
Looking back now we can draw a few conclusions.
It is better to start with pickers who have no experience in picking.
The supervisor is the main person in the team. Even more than in a traditional system. There is more technique involved and the supervisor needs to see possible problems fast and solve them
People have no problems with the environment full of moving parts. Even the opposite, they like it because it makes the work easier.
Training is essential. That is why at the moment we are writing a manual for that system on that particular farm. And again, in the training the supervisor (picking manager) is the key person.

And as a consultant you have to keep an open mind about the system and the way of picking. From the start till now you can say we started with system 2.0. Now we are already operating on system 5.0. It is evolving and growing in an exciting way. That is the benefit of having a good sparring team with the farm managemant, building company, picking staff and consultant.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that humble mushrooms, fungi that feed on decaying matter, are such a popular ingredient throughout many of the world’s cuisines. After all, mold and yeast, two basic fungi, are responsible for turning milk into blue cheese, wheat into bread and, of course, grape juice into wine. Mushrooms can have a similar transformative effect on food, lending a deep savory character to all sorts of dishes. This intangible quality is often called “meaty,” but mushrooms have several distinct flavor components that make them a natural partner for wine.

Earthy

Few foods are as earthy as mushrooms, which often taste like the soil in which they grow. If this quality appeals to you, pick a wine that will tease it out, rather than overwhelm it. Red Burgundy from the Côte de Nuits is a great earthy expression of Pinot Noir with mushroom-like undertones.

Peppery

Many mushrooms, especially when raw, have a subtle peppery, throat-tickling quality akin to that of radishes. Tannins can accentuate this sensation in an unpleasant way, so try a rich white wine to smooth it out. As it ages, Rioja Blanco develops nutty, caramelized aromas and an almost creamy texture that match beautifully with mushrooms.

Read the full article here.
Source: Wine Enthusiast, by Nils Bernstein

National Mushroom Month is celebrated each year throughout the month of September. During the time, the U.S. Department of Agriculture takes advantage of the opportunity to educate people on the versatility mushrooms offer, including health benefits. As a result, mushrooms are gaining more and more appreciation as we learn more about them.

In order to fully celebrate the heritage of mushrooms, we must first learn about the Mushroom Capital of the World. Located just outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, you will find a small town known as Kennett Square. Surprisingly, this small Pennsylvanian town produces over a million pounds of mushrooms a day. Each year Kennett Square holds the annual Mushroom Festival starting with a parade. Visitors can enjoy tours of mushroom farms or visit vendors to buy food and other goods.

Read the full article here.
Source: National Day Calendar

1. Fungus can cure disease - 1929 Penicillin, an antibiotic was produced from a mold called ‘Penicillium Chrysogenum’ that is also a fungus.
2. Fungi cell walls are made of chitin, not cellulose like plants.
3. Mushrooms are more like people than plants. They have their own immune system that can produce vitamin D when exposed to sunlight.
4. Mushrooms are almost entirely made of water and are excellent sources of B vitamins, selenium, and vitamin K.
5. There are over 70,000 known species of fungus.
6. The largest fungus on the planet is a honey mushroom in the Blue Mountains of Oregon stretching across 2384 acres and is estimated to be between 2400 and 8650 years old!
7. At least 350 species are consumed as food.
8. Mushrooms can be made into boards, fibers, even boats.
9. A fungus has been discovered that breaks down plastic in weeks instead of years.
10. Some mushrooms can breathe; Ganoderma Lucidum commonly known as the lingzi mushroom, respires oxygen in and carbon dioxide out.

Mario (Chuff) D. Basciani, a mushroom industry pioneer whose work ethic, tenacity and passion for mushrooms made him a role model to farmers throughout the country, died Sunday, Sept. 13, surrounded by his loving family. He was 91.

Mr. Basciani was a second-generation mushroom farmer, founder of Basciani Foods Inc., and patriarch of the Basciani family. He is survived by his wife of over 70 years, Anna, his five children, 18 grandchildren, and 40 great-grandchildren.

Mr. Basciani was born Jan. 20, 1929 in Toughkenamon, PA, to Italian immigrants Emedio and Anna Basciani. His father started harvesting mushrooms for the Pratt family in 1915, until he established his own farm in 1925. Mr. Basciani began working on the family farm at a young age and fell in love with all aspects of the business, especially the challenging physical work that comes with cultivating mushrooms. 

Read the full article here.
Source: The Produce News

Neither plant nor animal, mushrooms have confounded humans since ancient times. Now, they’re a reminder of our tenuous place in an uncertain world.

The mushrooms sit on high, behind glass, above bottles of Armagnac and mezcal in a bar at the Standard hotel in Manhattan’s East Village. They are barely recognizable at first, just eerie silhouettes resembling coral growths in an aquarium, blooming in laboratory-teal light: tightly branched clusters of oyster mushrooms in hot pink, yolk yellow and bruise blue, alongside lion’s mane mushrooms, shaggy white globes with spines like trailing hair.

This isn’t décor, or only incidentally so; the 15-foot-long shelf is a miniature farm, installed by the New York-based start-up Smallhold as part of a larger, sprawling system made up of remote-controlled nodes at restaurants and grocery stores across the city, each producing from 30 to 100 pounds of mushrooms a week. Thousands of data points — on temperature, humidity, airflow — are transmitted daily to the company’s headquarters, to be recalibrated across the network as needed. At the Standard, where the crop goes into plates of chilaquiles and mushroom-infused bourbon cocktails, diners might stop midbite, look up and take note of their meal’s origins a few feet away. It’s a glimpse of the future of agriculture, further collapsing the distance between diner and ingredients, doing away with the cost and waste of packaging and transportation in hopes of alleviating pressure on an overtaxed environment.

Read the full article here.
Source: New York Times By Ligaya Mishan

On September 8, in mushroom base of Tianyuan Town, Changning County, Yunnan Province of China, Reishi mushrooms are showing lovely and desirable growth trend, farmers are plunged into routine management work.

“Reishi mushroom is categorized into a kind of wood-rotting fungi. Now, the base absorbs 150 sheds that occupy 70 mu of area, and the expected gross production on Reishi mushroom spores powder could reach at least 30 tons while the anticipated production value could hit 3.5 million CNY. Next step, we plan to spread the artificial cultivation technology of Reishi mushroom to surrounding farmers, help drive them increase earnings and become affluent,” introduces owner of the base passionately, adding that Reishi mushrooms are aerobic, during the growth period of sporocarps, strong ventilation is undoubtedly needed. And, illumination is also indispensable on inducing the formation of sporocarps, growth of stipe and cap.

According to mushroom quotation provided by Anhui Fuyang Logistic Center of Agricultural Products, on September 7, Enoki mushroom, King oyster mushroom, White beech mushroom, Brown Shimeji mushroom and Seafood mushroom are 5 varieties that show price rise.

1.Price of Enoki mushroom has risen from 5.5 to 6.25 CNY per kg, indicating 13% of increase range.

2.Price of King oyster mushroom has risen from 5 to 7 CNY per kg, indicating 40% of increase range.

3.Price of White beech mushroom has risen from 10 to 11.6 CNY per kg, indicating 16% of increase range.

4.Price of Brown Shimeji mushroom has risen from 10 to 11.6 CNY per kg, indicating 16% of increase range.

5.Price of Seafood mushroom has risen from 8.5 to 9.5 CNY per kg, indicating 11% of increase range.

On the contrary, on September 7, Shiitake mushroom is the sole variety that shows price fall, from 18 CNY to 16 CNY, indicating 11% of decline range.

“Price of Black fungus and Auricularia polytricha is respectively at 7 CNY and 4 CNY per kg in our market. Recently, price of industrialized mushroom variety is on the rise by reason of huge demand while price of Shiitake mushroom goes down due to big source of supply,” introduces manager of Anhui Fuyang Logistic Center of Agricultural Products warmly.