Back in 1991, scientists were amazed when they made the discovery...

In the eerie environment inside the abandoned Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, researchers remotely piloting robots spotted pitch black fungi growing on the walls of the decimated No. 4 nuclear reactor and even apparently breaking down radioactive graphite from the core itself. What's more, the fungi seemed to be growing towards sources of radiation, as if the microbes were attracted to them!

More than a decade later, University of Saskatchewan Professor Ekaterina Dadachova (then at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York) and her colleagues acquired some of the fungi and found that they grew faster in the presence of radiation compared to other fungi. The three species tested, Cladosporium sphaerospermum, Cryptococcus neoformans and Wangiella dermatitidis, all had large amounts of the pigment melanin, which is found – among many places – in the skin of humans. People with a darker skin tone have much more of it. Melanin is known to absorb light and dissipate ultraviolet radiation, but in the fungi, it seemed to also be absorbing radiation and converting it into chemical energy for growth, perhaps in a similar fashion to how plants utilize the green pigment chlorophyll to attain energy from photosynthesis.

Back in 1991, scientists were amazed when they made the discovery...

In the eerie environment inside the abandoned Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, researchers remotely piloting robots spotted pitch black fungi growing on the walls of the decimated No. 4 nuclear reactor and even apparently breaking down radioactive graphite from the core itself. What's more, the fungi seemed to be growing towards sources of radiation, as if the microbes were attracted to them!

More than a decade later, University of Saskatchewan Professor Ekaterina Dadachova (then at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York) and her colleagues acquired some of the fungi and found that they grew faster in the presence of radiation compared to other fungi. The three species tested, Cladosporium sphaerospermum, Cryptococcus neoformans and Wangiella dermatitidis, all had large amounts of the pigment melanin, which is found – among many places – in the skin of humans. People with a darker skin tone have much more of it. Melanin is known to absorb light and dissipate ultraviolet radiation, but in the fungi, it seemed to also be absorbing radiation and converting it into chemical energy for growth, perhaps in a similar fashion to how plants utilize the green pigment chlorophyll to attain energy from photosynthesis.

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Source: RealClear Science By Ross Pomeroy - RCP Staff

How mushrooms grow and the yields are determined at filling. Assessing the compost and casing soil determines the final quality of the mushrooms. After this assessment, the settings are made on the filling machine. Any mistakes made at filling, will haunt you for the rest of the cropping cycle. On larger farms “growers" focus increasingly less on filling. Just a quick look at the compost and casing soil at the start, set the machine… and that's about it.

Why is filling so important?

Compost quality
Compost quality is influenced by: colour, texture, smell, temperature, hard or soft structure. How much water can the compost absorb and should you water at filling? How well will the CAC material grow? Only paying attention during the first 15 minutes of filling is not enough to get these details right. The least you can do as a grower is to be physically present three or four times at filling, to check the compost, casing soil and the filling quality. And have a chat with the filling machine operator.

The operator also has to be almost a grower; not only with an understanding of the machine, but also understanding what compost and casing soil quality is and how to handle the raw materials correctly. And not what I keep on seeing more often: filling the growing room with compost and casing as quickly as possible and not paying enough attention to the actual filling process. Sometimes the result is a whole groove along the bed because, for example, there was a piece of wood lodged in the CAC axle. There won't be any mushrooms growing there....

The operator should therefore ALWAYS stand by the filling machine and watch the machine where the compost with casing enters the growing room. The operator should look at the CAC and levelling axles. From this position, you can see what you are doing and stop the machine immediately if anything goes wrong.

Filling is the foundation of further growth. It's not simply completing a task, but also thinking about the quality of compost and casing you are dealing with and how it should be handled during filling and afterwards during growing.

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The next masterclass course will be organised from 9 – 14 March 2020. This course is fully booked!

NEW: Live Training Mushroom Signals Essentials
Mushroom Signals Essentials live training will be organised from 8-12 June 2020.
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Mark den Ouden

The targets for a mushroom farm are amongst others:

• Meet market requirements
• Good quality at the lowest possible harvesting costs

To meet the market requirements the farm needs about the same amount of mushrooms every day, seven days per week. Maybe a bit more on one day than the other depending on sales. This means generally picking seven days per week.

In most of the countries picking in the weekend is expensive so the target is often to avoid that when possible, or have mushrooms which are easy to pick. To have a relatively low cost price for picking it also helps to have more or less the same amount of mushrooms per day. So the planning of the picking and the calculation of the number is pickers needed is easier. To achieve all this a good stagger of the mushrooms is an absolute must. This starts with the choice of casing soil and the way the casing is treated.

A fine structured and perfectly finished layer of casing results often in too many mushrooms and a picking period of only 3 to 4 days in the first flush. So choosing a rough casing with an open finish of the surface helps in staggering the first flush.

Then the next important tool is the fructification or pinning. Take time to cool down the room. Take CO2 and room temperature down gradually over a period of at least 11 days. In the beginning the room temperature can be kept around 20° C for about 2 to 3 days. The compost will follow after a few days anyway.

Build in steps that are the same every day and keep humidity at the setpoint required. 95% for the first 4 days of fructification and from there a drop of 1% per day. Make sure that the band is set narrow on the RH because a deviation of just 2% can cost you the staggering you need so badly. So by taking time in this period, time and money can be saved during the picking again.

Just remember, the more un-even it looks the better. And do not look for too many mushrooms.

Avondale, PA — Mushroom growers are entering 2020 with record sales volumes, increasing retail prices and solid demand for fresh mushrooms, according to the American Mushroom Institute.

The September shipment report from the Mushroom Council™ shows domestic mushroom production set a new all-time high. This was the fourth consecutive new monthly high and reflects steady sales growth throughout the summer months. Both June and August volume exceeded 80 million pounds for the first time ever, indicating that mushroom sales are strong year-round. Combined shipments (domestic plus imports) also hit new record highs.

Mark Lang, MBA, Ph.D., University of Tampa, analyzed the recent data trends for the Council. “As mushrooms become a staple item for many Americans and more people start consuming them, demand has risen steadily for the past decade,” said Lang.

Retail prices are also seeing a steady increase. The most recent tracking data from IRI showed that as of Nov. 3, 2019, the average selling price for fresh mushrooms increased from $4.06/lb in October 2018 to $4.17/lb in October 2019, with an average increase of 1% per month.

“Retailers and their shoppers are demonstrating that the demand for fresh mushrooms is no fad—it’s a long-term trend. We see expanding displays and more real estate in the produce department, combined with record high retail prices—all the result of consumers demanding more healthy, flavorful plant-forward foods. Fresh mushrooms are well positioned for even greater growth in the near future,” said Steven Muro, President, Fusion Marketing.

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Source: American Mushroom Institute

Instead of habitats made of metal and glass, NASA is exploring technologies that could grow structures out of fungi to become our future homes in the stars, and perhaps lead to more sustainable ways of living on Earth as well.

Creating a livable home for future astronauts means doing more than growing a roof to go over their heads.

Astronauts will need to have all their basic needs met, just like on Earth, and face the additional challenges of living in a harsh environment on a distant world, the US space agency said in a statement.

Keeping that in mind, the myco-architecture project out of NASA’s Ames Research Center in California is prototyping technologies that could “grow” habitats on the Moon, Mars and beyond out of life – specifically, fungi and the unseen underground threads that make up the main part of the fungus, known as mycelia.

“Right now, traditional habitat designs for Mars are like a turtle – carrying our homes with us on our backs – a reliable plan, but with huge energy costs,” said Lynn Rothschild, the principal investigator on the early-stage project.

“Instead, we can harness mycelia (vegetative part of a fungus) to grow these habitats ourselves when we get there”.

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The future of meat substitutes may not involve plants. While food manufacturers race to bring new soy, wheat and pea-based products to market, a handful of start-ups have been hard at work developing a new kind of meat alternative from fungi.

Two companies in the emerging space are gearing up to launch their first products this year. Emergy Foods, Boulder, Colo., is working with culinary experts to perfect its steak alternative, which will debut in restaurants in Colorado under the newly unveiled Meati brand.

Berkeley Calif.-based Prime Roots, formerly Terramino Foods, also plans to launch its first products in 2020. The company uses Koji, a Japanese fungus traditionally used to make soy sauce and sake, to create several kinds of seafood, including salmon burgers, shrimp, lobster and tuna as well as chicken, sausage and beef.

According to mushroom quotation provided by Shandong Kuangshan Agricultural Products Transaction Market, on January 15, White beech mushroom, Brown Shimeji mushroom and Cordyceps militaris are 3 varieties that show price fall.

1. Price of White beech mushroom has dropped from 16.7 to 15.8 CNY per kg, indicating 5% of decline range.

2. Price of Brown Shimeji mushroom has dropped from 18.3 to 17.5 CNY per kg, indicating 4% of decline range.

3. Price of Cordyceps militaris has dropped from 24 to 20 CNY per kg, indicating 17% of decline range.

On the contrary, on January 15, Enoki mushroom, Seafood mushroom, Superior Shiitake mushroom and Button mushroom are 4 varieties that show price rise.

1. Price of Enoki mushroom has risen from 8 to 8.5 CNY per kg, indicating 6% of increase range.

2. Price of Seafood mushroom has risen from 9.8 to 10.7 CNY per kg, indicating 9% of increase range.

3. Price of Superior Shiitake mushroom has risen from 13 to 13.6 CNY per kg, indicating 5% of increase range.

4. Price of Button mushroom has risen from 12 to 13 CNY per kg, indicating 8% of increase range.

“Price of King oyster mushroom, Agrocybe cylindracea, Shiitake mushroom, Oyster mushroom and Pleurotus geesteranus is respectively at 7.5 CNY, 14 CNY, 9 CNY, 5 CNY and 9 CNY per kg. As Chinese New Year approaches, price of mushroom is possible to rise at a small range in our market,” introduces manager of Shandong Kuangshan Agricultural Products Transaction Market passionately.