Specialty Mushroom Production for Small Farms Jeremy Sisson

Transcription

1 Specialty Mushroom Production for Small Farms Jeremy Sisson West Virginia State University Gus R. Douglas Land Grant Institute Agricultural and Environmental Research Station

2 What is A Specialty Mushroom? The basic definition of a specialty mushroom is any mushroom produced for the market that is not Agaricus bisporus (white button, portabella, crimini) A specialty grower is defined as having at least 200 natural wood logs in production or some commercial indoor growing area and $200 or more in sales.

3 Specialty Mushroom Examples Reishi Pink Oyster Lion s Mane

4 What is a Mushroom? A mushroom is the reproductive structure of certain species of fungi. The majority of the organism is underground an cannot be seen during its life cycle.

5 Mushroom Ecology The fungi that produce mushrooms are heterotrophs They obtain their nutrients through secreting enzymes that break down large molecules and absorbing smaller ones. (saprotrophs) They form partnerships with tree roots for absorbing sugars. (myccorhizal)

6 Mushroom Ecology (cont.) Needed for growth Moisture Protection from direct sunlight Optimum temperature Food Fungi are critical for ecosystems as decomposers

7 General Steps for Producing Edible Mushrooms Initial growing media Surface for spores to germinate and mycelia to begin growing. e.g. : Agar Secondary growing substrates Surface for the mycelia to proliferate = spawn e.g. : rye, sawdust Bulk Substrate formulation that supports production of fruit bodies e.g. : sawdust mixed with millet

8 Agar Culture

9 Preparing Grain Spawn

10 Bulk substrate selected will depend on species you are growing and cultivation method employed. Bulk Substrate Selection will also depend on which waste materials you have readily available.

11 Producing your own vs. buying commercial spawn At the beginning of your operation, it may be a benefit to buy spawn from a commercial supplier. The steps that I described for starting from scratch are tedious, timeconsuming, and require a very clean environment. Once you ve mastered producing a consistent crop on a bulk substrate, it could save you money to produce your own spawn.

12 Examples of Commercial Spawn suppliers. Fungi perfecti, LLC MushroomPeople eople.com Sun Shitake Brazillian Spawn Company om.br

13 As a grower, how do you POWER UP your operation with mushrooms? Mushrooms can supplement your annual income. Mushrooms can benefit your crops by increasing available nutrients in your field. So, there is an economic and environmental benefit.

14 U.S. Mushroom Crop For the Season, the total sales were 862M lb with a value of $1.02 B This production comes from a total of 282 growers. It is estimated that the Agaricus portion of these sales was $966M

15 Market Considerations In a grower/farmer s best interest to start with a species that has a history of marketability, best two specialty mushrooms for this job are Shitake and Oyster. It will be beneficial to identify and establish buyers for your crop before you even begin production. If it is possible, a detailed market survey of potential buyers in your neck of the woods is highly desirable. Perhaps the local extension service can help with this aspect.

16 Direct Sales of Fresh or Dried Mushrooms If you are selling your mushrooms fresh, this will fetch you the highest prices for your investment. It may be possible to market your product directly to local restaurants, whole food stores/grocery stores and at farmers markets. You could also directly market your product by creating an internet site and filling mail orders.

17 Problems with Direct Sales A restaurant owner/chef or grocery store may have existing contracts with wholesalers. Seasonal production may not be good enough, since business owners have to provide a consistent, yearround, quality product for their customers.

18 Approaches to Direct Sales May have to guarantee year-round production to the restaurant or grocery store. This could be done, by having a part of your crop in indoor facilities. This could also be done by forming a Coop of mushroom growers

19 Wholesale Market You could always sell your mushrooms to a wholesaler. This will be the best strategy for a producer that does not have the time to engage in direct marketing. Selling dried mushrooms to the wholesale market can also be a way to avoid lower prices you will get in peak season

20 Lentinula edodes -Shitake The most popular specialty mushroom For over 1000 yrs. Have been grown in Asia on hardwood logs. Have now also been adapted to an indoor method of growing on a supplemented saw-dust based media.

21 Log Cultivation Method with plug spawn Hardwood logs are cut from recently felled trees into 3-4ft long pieces ~ 4 in.-10 in. in diameter Logs should be stored covered, off the ground until ready to inoculate Holes are drilled in the wood, in a diamond shaped pattern, approximately per log and a mallet is used to drive in the mycelia covered dowels (plug spawn) After inserted, the dowels are covered with some sort of sealant like cheesewax.

22 Log Cultivation (cont.) After inoculation, logs can be placed in a proper habitat for fruiting, they need to placed in a well shaded area and preferably close to a water source. After 6months to a year, logs can either be induced to fruit by force flushing, or you could let nature take its course and harvest when weather conditions are right. This could be a good method if you have many acres of woods on your property, West Virginia in general has a lot of land that is suitable to outdoor cultivation.

23 Pleurotus ostreatus-oyster Mushroom Delicious edible mushroom with a crude protein content of ~30-40% Can be produced on a variety of waste materials that contain lignin and cellulose Has medicinal benefits such as reducing cholesterol and boosting the immune system

24 Oyster Mushroom Production Like shitake, oysters can be grown on logs for outdoor cultivation using plug spawn Oysters can also be grown indoors on materials that are high in lignin, cellulose, or hemicellulose Common examples of bulk substrates are: all of the cereal straws, sugar cane bagasse, coffee grounds, hulls, cottonseed hulls, and corncobs Yields can be increased by supplementing the subsrate with materials like millet, rice bran, gypsum, etc.

25 Indoor Cultivation When producing mushrooms indoors, the substrates must be either sterilized or pasteurized Environmental conditions have to be tightly controlled, this includes humidity, temperature, fresh air exchanges, incoming air purification. An appropriate container that allows fruitbodies to form for whichever species you are growing, it is necessary that this container encloses the substrate while the mycelia is running, but allows for gas exchange.

26 Potential Fruiting Houses Warehouses Greenhouses Airplane hangars Barns Mines Caves Poultry Sheds Basements

27 Fruiting House

28 Inside Fruiting House

29 General Outline for Growing Indoors Sterilization / Pasteurization of the Substrate Inoculation of substrate with spawn after cooling Filling containers, sealing and allowing mycelia to run through (second spawn run) Placing in grow room and adjusting conditions of the environment to promote mushroom initiation, growth, and development

30 Can be achieved by autoclaving (pressure cooking) the substrate materials. Sterilization Main purpose here is to kill competitor organisms, discourage their growth, and give mycelia free reign. Disadvantage is that it takes expensive equipment.

31 Pasteurization- Hot Bath Method A Low cost way to do this involves a 50 gallon drum, a propane burner, a wire basket and a thermometer. Heat the drum full of water from below with the burner until it reaches a temperature of 130 C Dunk in dry substrate materials in a wire basket and keep submerged with something heavy for~1h Carefully remove, drain off excess water, spread out on clean surface to dry to room temp ~16h

32 Inoculation Substrate is placed into fruiting container Spawn (4-10% volume of mix) is added and thoroughly mixed.

33 Harvesting the Crop The production cycle happens in waves called flushes, the number of flushes that will be produced depends upon species being grown. It is important to harvest the mature mushrooms at the right stage, because this affects the quality of the mushrooms for sale, the health of the harvester, and yields in later flushes. Important to clean the house out of all left over materials, and disinfect all surfaces with something like 10% bleach

34 Spent Substrate This is the material that is leftover from the fruiting containers. Can compost this further to put into your soil, mix directly in as a soil amendment. Or, If you are using straw, Can use this directly to grow.

35 King Stropharia Mushroom An edible mushroom that can be produced directly with your plants in the garden. Can also be grown in raised beds in a moist shaded area of your property.

36 Grifola frondosa-maitake mushroom Can be grown with several different outdoor cultivation techniques on logs and stumps. Would be a good candidate for stump removal if you are doing selective cutting for timber on parts of your property. Help to create an edible forest

37 Stump Cultivation Wedge technique Spawn disk technique Plug spawn technique Photo from fungiperfecti.com

38 Implementing a whole farm approach If you are growing plants and animals at your site, you can use the wastes from both to produce mushrooms. You can then use the waste mushroom substrate to add organic matter and nutrients to your soil, or as a highly nutritious fodder to feed your animals. If you are also selective cutting parts of your land, you can inoculate stumps with delicious edibles or medicinals to provide food for sale or for the table and to improve the health of your woodlot.

39 Summary While growing at the commercial level is a tough thing to get into, there are niche markets that could be exploited if producing on a small scale. If it is an activity that you want to do for pleasure, using materials that you already have access to produce food for your family, friends and neighbors using outdoor techniques could be a rewarding venture. Your summer and fall walks in the woods will be enriched with the various new mushrooms you see sprouting up on your property.

40 Any Questions?

41 Contact Info Jeremy Sisson Research Technician W.V.S.U. G.R.D.I. A.E.R.S (304) (304)