Industry professionals in various countries were asked about the main challenges this year. Of course, it varies across different continents, but in many aspects, it is quite similar. Here are our conclusions:
- Labor shortages in many countries, leading to a lack of pickers and the need for automated harvesting solutions, e.g., from Christiaens.
- Mushroom prices are rising more slowly than production costs—prices of substrate, electricity, wages, etc.
- Possible ban on the use of peat casing and the search for alternatives and associated challenges.
- Increasing temperatures and humidity on Earth may lead to the emergence of new diseases and viruses, which will be harder to combat due to increasingly stringent regulations on the use of plant protection products.
- Competition among mushroom farms within a country and between countries is becoming more intense.
- Transport issues: reduced number of refrigerated trucks, increased transportation costs.
- Plastic packaging that is not eco-friendly, and the need to find alternatives that will be suitable for mushrooms as a perishable product and cost-effective.
- Transition to organic cultivation, such as covered composting facilities, circular systems (from poultry and fields to mushrooms), eliminating steaming, greater care for employees, etc.
As well we receive information from various countries about mushroom diseases, such as cobweb and green molds, and other diseases. They also mention shortages of straw and poultry manure. In some countries, the lack of access to good spawn is the biggest problem.
Additionally, wars in Ukraine and Israel pose great challenges for mushroom producers in these countries.
Comments:
Maksym Yenchenko, UK, owner of UMDIS Mushroom Agency
The industry’s movement towards automating the mushroom harvesting process is inevitable. Currently, new technical solutions are still imperfect and expensive, but they already help reduce harvesting costs, albeit requiring significant investments. Over time, the efficiency of these technical solutions will be sufficient to minimize the number of workers on the farm. This will usher in a new era in mushroom cultivation, characterized by a flow of investments, further, and possibly very sharp, increases in farm sizes, and a shift of production from regions with low labor costs to regions with a well-developed business climate, availability of straw, and infrastructure. This growth will ultimately lead to problems for small farms, as they will continue to exit the market.
Neil Hobson UK, support & advice for DTO .bv compost supplier and exporter.
“I would say the two very common concerns raised repeatedly globally are:
– Peat supply & the future availability of suitable alternatives due to the increasing environmental based legislative restrictions from governments, regulatory bodies and customer requirements.
– Labour issues.
The availability at all levels within the business and the cost dependent on the country (high minimum wages etc).
Especially relevant though with regards harvesting teams due to the high % of a business’s workforce‘’.
Dirk Warmerdam, Netherlands, former consultant at Hooymans Substrates BV., Dutch compost supplier.
“I have been working 10 years in substrate industry specialized in export. From my point of view I would say:
– substitution for peat in casing soil since we run out of peat and there are valid arguments t to keep the peat in the ground since it is full of CO2 which will be released by digging up.
– changing climate which affects yields in agriculture. Most likely thriving up costs of straw, thus raw material costs for mushroom substrate producers
– due to increase of climate temperature and humidity levels possible new diseases and viruses will occur which are harder to fight since the regulations for using chemicals will increase.
Of course, all related to climate change and raw materials”.
Frans Steegh, Netherlands, Self Employed at IQClimate
In my opinion,
- The most important are peat alternatives, the best would be that the new peat comes out of other waste products.
- Making the farms environmentally friendly. The sector has to get rid of all the plastics which pollutes the Earth now.
- Education, scaling up the grower’s knowhow in different countries, is our challenge now.
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