Interpreting the principles of pinning
“I THINK OF MUSHROOM CULTURE AS A MOSAIC. THERE’S A LOT OF PIECES THAT ALL HAVE TO FIT TOGETHER PERFECTLY IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THE BIG PICTURE.”
So says Raymond Samp, a lifelong student of the entire Agaricus mushroom mosaic.
Managing pinning is a key piece of that puzzle. This means that understanding the pinning process is essential for growers to control mushroom quality and meet market requirements.
Mushroom levy-funded Nuffield Fellowship
Travel the world and discover new opportunities for the mushroom industry with a prestigious Nuffield Scholarship. Receive a $40,000 bursary to step back from your business and grow your skills.
This is a unique opportunity for professionals across all agricultural sectors—including those in the mushroom industry—to connect with global experts, expand networks, and drive change. Whether you’re interested in cutting-edge production methods, sustainability, or market development, this scholarship allows you to research a topic that can transform your business, community, and industry.
The mushroom R&D investment cycle
In this instalment, Mushroom Fund Research, Development and Extension (RD&E) Coordinator Dr Carly Rosewarne explains how her role supports Hort Innovation to manage the process of converting investment recommendations into contractable projects.
Meet the mushroom R&D SIAP
The Mushroom R&D Strategic Investment Advisory Panel (SIAP) provides Hort Innovation with advice about how mushroom R&D levy funds should be invested to deliver value for levy payers and the industry.
The SIAP oversees the development and execution of the Mushroom Strategic Investment Plan (SIP), provides advice to Hort Innovation guided by SIP investment priorities, identifies and endorses RD&E opportunities, and assists with monitoring and evaluation of levy funded projects. Dr Carly Rosewarne interviewed the panellists and the AMGA CEO to get their thoughts – why they joined, industry challenges and opportunities, fungi facts, and the best ways to enjoy eating mushrooms.
Establishment of the Marsh Lawson Mushroom Research Unit
December 2024 marked the 20th anniversary of the official opening of the Marsh Lawson Mushroom Research Unit (MLMRU) at Sydney University.
The Unit is currently undergoing a major renovation and has quite a history, occupying as it does a prime piece of real estate right at the edge of the Chancellors Oval at Gadigal Green. But how did our small, experimental unit come to be in such a valuable location? And why does it even exist?
Stuart Whitehall and Umberto Calvo on drip irrigation & supplements
In this MushroomLink podcast, Stuart discusses the strategic use of drip irrigation with AHR’s own mushroom grower Umberto Calvo. Umberto has conducted trials with a similar system at the March Lawson Mushroom Research Unit. With the potential to improve later flushes and even create nutritionally enhanced mushrooms, our panel discuss the mixed challenges and solutions offered by drip irrigation for mushrooms.
Podcast hosted by Dr Jenny Ekman, AHR.
Stuart Whitehall from Nutrigain has been working with mushrooms almost his entire life. Growing up on a family farm, he earned his pocket money selling spent compost from the tender age of 9. Over several decades in the industry he has both witnessed and driven a host of innovations, from spawn production and trading to biological pest control with nematodes. Stuart has now diversified into nutritional supplements, including the delivery of liquid solutions through drip irrigation systems.
Umberto Calvo from AHR graduated in 2018 from the Università di Torino in Italy, and recently came to Australia to explore agricultural sciences in a completely different environment. With experience in Precision Viticulture in Spanish wine regions he is interested in precision and data-driven agriculture, remote sensing and horticulture crops. He is currently involved in a wide variety of projects from post-harvest avocado quality to mushroom growing techniques.
Stronger together: Recap of the 2024 AU + NZ Mushroom Growers Conference
The 45th AMGA Conference in Tāmaki Makaurau Aotearoa/Auckland New Zealand marked the first conference collaboration between the Australian Mushroom Growers Association and the New Zealand Commercial Mushroom Growers Federation. In October, over 150 delegates, representing all parts of the mushroom industry .
Mushroom people development strategy
Like many industries across Australia, the mushroom industry is facing challenges in attracting, developing and retaining labour, including skilled and specialist workers. The industry has also been challenged by significant consolidation in recent years.To address this issue, the mushroom industry’s first People Development Strategy was developed to provide a plan for workforce development in the industry.
KENON MUSHROOMS:Pioneering innovation in Australian exotic mushroom production
Established in 2005, Kenon Mushrooms has grown from a boutique operation into Queensland’s largest Asian mushroom producer.
Shaking up the way oyster mushrooms are produced in Australia, Kenon inoculate 2000-5000 bags per week (available for sale to other exotic growers). With locally made bags, inoculated with Kenon’s own spawn, these are some of Australia’s only truly home grown oyster mushrooms, with a yield of up to 300g oyster per 1kg substrate from the first flush.
Read more about Kenon Mushrooms and their innovations in MushroomLink Issue 10
AI isn’t just for harvesting - a new home grown tech start up
Combining an interest in mycology with 30 years’ experience as a mathematician, grower John Ward was eager to apply his knowledge in the growing rooms of his exotic mushroom farm nestled in Victoria’s high country. John has helped developed AI technology that can monitor mushroom growth stages through image recognition and sensors.
Combining an interest in mycology with 30 years’ experience as a mathematician, grower John Ward was eager to apply his knowledge in the growing rooms of his exotic mushroom farm nestled in Victoria’s high country. John has helped developed AI technology that can monitor mushroom growth stages through image recognition and sensors.
Shortening the Cycle
One of the highlights of the recent ISMS Conference in Las Vegas was the opportunity to meet senior researcher Dr Nancy Pyck, and hear about some of the work they have been conducting at the amazing INAGRO Facility in Belgium. I had a chance to talk to Nancy after her presentation, and discuss the work further.
One of the highlights of the recent ISMS Conference in Las Vegas was the opportunity to meet senior researcher Dr Nancy Pyck, and hear about some of the work they have been conducting at the amazing INAGRO Facility in Belgium. I had a chance to talk to Nancy after her presentation, and discuss the work further.
Managing the Mushroom Biome
As fungi go, Agaricus mushrooms are surprisingly social. Unlike some other species, Agaricus bisporus not only grows better in the presence of other microorganisms, but may actually require them to grow, mature, and form harvestable mushrooms.
As fungi go, Agaricus mushrooms are surprisingly social. Unlike some other species, Agaricus bisporus not only grows better in the presence of other microorganisms, but may actually require them to grow, mature, and form harvestable mushrooms.
Monaghan Mushrooms
Monaghan Mushrooms is one of the largest mushroom-only companies in the world. Started by Ronnie Wilson in the early 1980s, it has grown to a company of more than 3,000 staff, with composting yards and growing facilities in Ireland, the UK and Canada. Like many mushroom businesses, Monaghan Mushrooms is facing the dual challenge of increasing productivity while also improving sustainability. To achieve this, the company invests strongly in Research and Development (R&D), and are heavily invested in the search for an alternative to peat.
Monaghan Mushrooms is one of the largest mushroom-only companies in the world. Started by Ronnie Wilson in the early 1980s, it has grown to a company of more than 3,000 staff, with composting yards and growing facilities in Ireland, the UK and Canada. Like many mushroom businesses, Monaghan Mushrooms is facing the dual challenge of increasing productivity while also improving sustainability. To achieve this, the company invests strongly in Research and Development (R&D), and are heavily invested in the search for an alternative to peat.
What’s new at the Marsh Lawson mushroom research unit
A new trial, managed by AHR in collaboration with Dr Michael Kertesz, has been set up in the unit to examine the benefits of fertigation. The study is an integral part of the Hort Innovation project Optimise nitrogen transformations in mushroom production (MU17004).
A new trial, managed by AHR in collaboration with Dr Michael Kertesz, has been set up in the unit to examine the benefits of fertigation. The study is an integral part of the Hort Innovation project Optimise nitrogen transformations in mushroom production (MU17004).
Giorgi Mushroom Company
Geoff Price may be the son of our own mushroom-growing legend Graham Price, but he has definitely forged his own way in the industry. A mushroom grower since he was eight years old, perhaps it is not
surprising he’s now not only technical director of Giorgi Mushroom Company in Pennsylvania, but also chair of the American Mushroom Institute.
Mushroom farming in Ukraine
Oldest compost yard in Ukraine.
Despite the challenges of war in Ukraine, this world leader in food production is advancing rapidly with increased production capacity, poised to deliver quality mushrooms to export markets.
Inside the Marsh Lawson mushroom research centre
Research and development underpin new technology. For the mushroom industry this is no different. A dedicated research centre is one driver of important developments, as industry seeks ways to adapt
and respond to challenges.
Graham Price and the history of Hawkesbury mushroom industry
Graham Price hand turning compost for his mushroom farm
There wouldn’t be many who have been in the Australian mushroom industry more than a few years who haven’t come across Graham Price. Along with Rob Tolson, and other early trailblazers such as Roy Sanders, Raymon Mas and John Miller, Graham was one of those who helped take the Australian industry from its rudimentary beginnings to the mechanised, highly technical business that it is today.
A complex web of life: bacterial-fungal interactions
In his book Entangled Life, Merlin Sheldrake imagines the soil as a “horizonless external gut – digestion and salvage everywhere, with flocks of bacteria surfing waves of electrical charge... like the Wild West with all those bandits, brigands, loners, crap shooters… and the seething intimate contact on all sides by fungal hyphae.”
In his book Entangled Life, Merlin Sheldrake imagines the soil as a “horizonless external gut – digestion and salvage everywhere, with flocks of bacteria surfing waves of electrical charge... like the Wild West with all those bandits, brigands, loners, crap shooters… and the seething intimate contact on all sides by fungal hyphae.”
University of Sydney honours student Shivagami Shamugam has been investigating the status of current research, and opportunities to exploit bacterial interactions, as part of a levy-supported research project with Dr Michael Kertesz. Her review has been accepted (with minor changes) for publication in the Journal of Applied Microbiology – a significant achievement for an honours student. The following attempts to summarise this review
University of Sydney honours student Shivagami Shamugam
Mushrooms in Ireland, and the work of Teagasc
When people think of horticulture in Ireland, they probably think potatoes. However, the largest horticulture sector in Ireland is actually mushrooms. With 40 farms employing more than 3,500 people and a farm gate value over €120 million, mushrooms are a major industry on the Emerald Isle, a country with a population of only 5 million.
When people think of horticulture in Ireland, they probably think potatoes. However, the largest horticulture sector in Ireland is actually mushrooms. With 40 farms employing more than 3,500 people and a farm gate value over €120 million, mushrooms are a major industry on the Emerald Isle, a country with a population of only 5 million.
