Could Australia build its own plan B for casing?
Deep-dug peat has long been central to mushroom casing, but the Alternative Casing project (MU24001) is working to build a tested alternative that gives growers a ready backup.
Rather than trying to clone peat, researchers are working to engineer its functions from clean, consistent inputs such as wood fibre and calcium bentonite clay.
In this article from MushroomLink Magazine Issue #18, find out how researchers approached the challenge of replicating what peat does, from screening 83 blends in the lab to the first on-farm trials.
