AgroLingua translation agency and Roodbont agricultural publishers have entered into a strategic partnership. This cooperation aims to better serve the international agribusiness and food markets by providing high-quality knowledge products and further strengthen the positions of both companies.

Roodbont Publishers specialises in the production of practical, agricultural knowledge content in the form of printed and e-books, e-learning and training in more than 50 countries. AgroLingua specialises in translating content for companies active in the international agrifood market into more than 150 language combinations.

“Roodbont and AgroLingua share many similarities. We are both companies that contribute highly specific expertise to the international agrifood business," says Jos van Kleef of AgroLingua. “Roodbont does this as a publisher of knowledge content and AgroLingua through its language and translation skills. Roodbont has unique, comprehensive agricultural knowledge and we would like to share that in our extensive B2B network.”

“We have used AgroLingua's professionalism as a translation agency to translate our knowledge products for a long time," says Janneke Janssens of Roodbont Publishers. “The translation expertise at AgroLingua and its wide network can open up new markets for our knowledge products. High quality translations, ISO 9001 and ISO 17100 certified, and in-depth knowledge of the subject matter and sector-specific terminology."

In the next few years, both companies will cooperate on expanding the international market for high-quality agricultural knowledge content, with a focus on e-learning channels.

www.agrolingua.com www.roodbont.com

For the original press release, click here!

Today, consumers are beginning to use one more guideline to determine how to spend their food dollars – sustainability. The public is increasingly curious about where and how their food is produced and what impact it has on the environment; and for good reason, the world’s population is rapidly expanding, and it’s estimated there will be over 9 billion people on the planet by 2050.

A mushroom sustainability study reveals the mighty mushroom not only is healthy on the plate, it’s also gentle on the planet.

The study finds production of a pound of mushrooms requires only 1.8 gallons of water and 1.0 kilowatt hours of energy, and generates only .7 pounds of CO2 equivalent emissions. In addition, the annual average yield of mushrooms is 7.1 pounds per square foot – meaning up to 1 million pounds of mushrooms can be produced on just one acre.
Even though this research is from 2017, it becomes even more relevant in the coming years.

Please click here for the full article and research material.

Spring is back in the country and that is the start of the morel season. A good knife and a sharp eye are all it takes to harvest delicious morels.

The morels are mushrooms that grow in the spring. Morels have a spongy, pointed hat that is reminiscent of a honeycomb. Raw morels are poisonous and only edible after heating. The taste of the morels is spicy. Morels are full of fiber and minerals and are therefore also good for your health.

If you plan to do your own research, read carefully so that you don't pick a poisonous species. When collecting morels use a flat box, basket or net bag. Don't use plastic bags as the morels will start to spoil before you bring them home. Another reason is that the spores must be able to fall back to the ground so that new morels will grow again next year. Morels are often found around dead and dying trees. Think of oak, ash and elm. But an old apple orchard is also a good hunting ground.

There are many ways to cook morels, but baking them in butter brings out their rich, almost meaty flavor. You can make it a real springtime celebration by serving them with asparagus during this time of year.

Mushroom Matter is very proud to have mushroom professionals blogging for our platform. We have bloggers from all over the world; in the United States, the Netherlands and Russia. Normally they are traveling the world and visiting and supporting their customers with the mushroom growing process. As everyone knows, travel restrictions due to Corona have impacted everyone, but also the work of our bloggers. A switch to online support is made and in some cases travel within their own countries is again possible!
As we have gained many more followers and readers over the last years on our platform, we would like to introduce again our bloggers to you. This week we place Erik de Groot in the spotlights.

Erik de Groot has been blogging for Mushroom Matter for two years now and writes articles on the mushroom growing process, like harvesting, casing soil, climate control and much more. He lives in California in the US and has his own consultancy company called GLAGS. He supports customers around the globe, like China, Russia, Australia and Europe. When he was a teenager, he was already working with mushrooms as a picker, cleaner and whatever had to be done. At a later stage in life he rented his own farm before deciding to go to work for bigger farms. With several years of experience in the Netherlands, he got involved in consultancy work and started to travel around the world. He writes for several magazins and brings a wide experience and knowledge level to the table, therefore we are happy to have him on board.

Click here to view his blogs.

Mushrooms we like to eat them, but there are also mushrooms that are eaten for their hallucinogenic effect. These types of mushrooms influence consciousness and are classified as tripping agents. The mushrooms are also known as Psilocybin or ‘Magic Mushrooms’. You can use it in different ways, but most make it into a dish because of the bad taste. The trip effect is caused by the psilocybin and psilocin and the effect usually starts after 15 minutes to an hour. You can also make tea so you can notice the effect earlier. The substances in the mushrooms are not physically dependent, so that means that you cannot become addicted to them. Examples of hallucinogenic mushrooms are Psilocybe cubensis, Psilocybe semilanceata, Psilocybe tampanensis and truffles. Hallucinogenic mushrooms are illegal. But because truffles are legally not covered by mushrooms, due to the fact that they grow underground, they are legally available.

More and more articles are appearing that the use of psilocin can help in the treatment of depression, anxiety, addiction or PTSD. But in many drug laws there is still much uncertainty about the legal status. In California, Georgia and Idaho they are prohibited and in Oregan during the elections, voters voted for legalization. It’s the first state where the psilocin is used for mental health treatments. Also Hawaii considers ‘Magic Mushrooms’ as medicine.

The next edition of the Mushroom Days will probably be held in the spring of 2022.

The Mushroom Days Foundation announced this in a letter to their exhibitors. The event is scheduled for Wednesday March 30, Thursday March 31 and Friday April 1 in the Brabanthallen in Den Bosch in the Netherlands. That still seems a long way ahead, but the Mushroom Days Foundation is looking forward with great optimism and therefore wants to start with the preparations. But because of the Covid-19 pandemic there will be a slight difference. For this edition of the Mushroom Days there is unfortunately a limited set-up time due to a prior mega event. The desired hall is therefore only available on Monday around noon. This entails a different method than the exhibitors are used to.
A tightly controlled structure will require a clear on time final participation, the size of the stand and all desired facilities. Unfortunately it will not be possible to organize meetings for exhibitors to present their plans, nor for questions and room for discussion. The exhibitors were invited by letter to indicate whether they are positive about the intention to hold the 36th edition in the spring of 2022.

The Mushroom Days Foundation is once again looking forward to making it a success and inviting visitors with a warm welcome.

If a consultant is visiting a farm there are always many things to discuss in detail.

Shall we give more or less water and are we able to water over the mushrooms?

Do we need a slower or faster fructification?

Is the amount of pins sufficient or do we need more and how do we then get a decent stagger?

Even discussions about compost although many growers do not really know the details. But they know about structure, moisture and smell. Because this is what they discuss at filling.

The same about casing soil. Is it heavy this time or just fine? Wet or dry?

But talking about supplement one finds out that most of the growers have absolutely no idea how it works, what it really is and the choices they can make. Generally the price is the main buying point.

And this is strange to me. Because compost and casing are always changing during the year. This is mainly due to the seasonal effect on the raw materials. Straw is maturing in the storage, chicken manure will change in nitrogen level and peat is changing moisture depending on the season of the year. Manufacturing companies will react to that but smaller changes are inevitable.

To keep production at the same level or to enhance it, the supplement however can be changed to your liking. Most of the growers only know that there is a slow or normal release product. But it is possible to customise the supplement to the situation of that moment. Not just slow or fast but even pinpointed to a certain phase of the growing. To give an example: one of the farms I work on now wanted more activity in second flushes and a longer shelflife. In cooperation with the compost supplier and the supplement supplier they have now “composed” a supplement that can do that. Be aware though that it also needs adapting of the growing. You are putting more proteins into the compost so the activity changes too. This means that also the watering and the picking have to change.

But this way many combinations are possible.

There are different raw materials to mix and several processes to make the release time fitting your schedule.

A few remarks though have to be made.

It only works well in cooperation with the compost supplier. The ingredients of the supplement have to be an addition to the nutrients in the compost. So it has to fit the analyses of the compost.

The best way to use it if it can be mixed in at the compost yard. And this is only profitable with bigger quantities of compost. Mixing it in at filling is not as efficient as on the compost yard.

Do not just look at protein levels. Because some proteins are not available to the mushrooms and will still be in the compost at the moment of emptying the room.

So look at effective protein. This often is a matter of price. Good proteins come with a price.

And remember: good supplement makes good compost better. But good supplement makes bad compost worse.