www.fungimag.com to see what was happening. There was an item on how the big supermarkets squeeze fresh produce suppliers until they can no longer take it - the case of one strawberry grower was highlighted. Many mushroom growers would echo the sentiments. A snippet from Graham Obree’s book “The Flying Scotsman” illustrated that life on a mushroom farm was never easy. Fires at farms in California and Canada made the cut. As did news of the prized Périgord truffle being under threat from invading Chinese truffle growing in European soils - it sounded very sci-fi. Locally it appeared as though Donegal Creameries were about to bug Highland Radio, but in the end it came to nought. The Artic Charr made an appearance via the fact that ex mushroom grower Bill Carty swapped mushrooms to farm fish instead. In the notes Stalker noted that Mushroom Business magazine launched mushroom business.com version 2.0. There was note of the massive blaze in Canada that caused $10 million of damage. Note of the changes at the Ministry of Agriculture department in Ireland were also made. An the inexorable rise in the oil prices made the cut yet again.

June was sadly marked by the death of Amycel’s managing Director in the UK, John Garlick. As an appreciation in the July edition by John Kidder the vice president of Amycel stated John lived life to the full, riding his motorbike at every opportunity and more recently fly fishing in local rivers. John came into the industry via Rumenco Ltd working for their animal feeds group - moving into the supply side of span and supplements for the mushroom industry.

Other notable events included the very successful Unimush Ireland sponsored classic golf tournament. The vent took place on June 20th and received a lot of coverage in the local press. Oil prices were causing consternation once again and medicinal mushrooms got an outing in the national press. The Irish Times health supplement ran a big feature on the beneficial effects touted for exotic types of mushroom. The economics of aluminium was touched upon.

In the science end of things there was a stoy on the revolution in protein research by a Dutch researcher using Japanese mushroom Grifola frondosa studying the proteins at the root of various diseases. All very scientific and impenetrable - but a breakthrough nevertheless. Local mushroom research on the monitoring of crop protection practices in the Industry from 2007 was included in the edition. The research by Kearns, Jess and Keating included a summary of findings and comparison with the previous survey in 1999. “The maintenance of mushroom production outputs, despite a reduction in the number of growers suggests an increase in both unit production size and efficiency of crop production.” Stands to reason ok.

It was noted that Teagasc held a conference at the end of May celebrating 50 years since its inception, the conference discussed the future of farming in Ireland. The vent saw delegates trying to predict where farming would be in 2030 and how researchers could help the agri-sector in years ahead. The question may well be where will we all be, never mind farming! There were a batch of photographs from the ISMS South Africa conference. There were plenty of familiar faces and a few new ones too. An item on a clump in supply of mushrooms to the UK as a compost problem enveloped one of the main UK suppliers. A severe outbreak of Trichoderma green mould was pinpointed as the cause of the problem. The strength of the Euro against the pound was also seen a a problem for UK supplies according to the Mushroom Bureau. The Bureau was continuing its work of promoting the produce at every opportunity - a “Love Mushrooms” campaign was organised to permeate media outlets during the month. According to Bureau research three quarters of consumers said they enjoyed eating mushrooms and more than a third said the rated mushrooms as their favourite vegetable! Those certainly are encouraging signs for the industry if they are accurate. A Penn State University press story found that a two-step process of washing harvested mushrooms greatly inhibits the growth of food-borne pathogens and extends their shelf life. The advice on not washing mushrooms to get better flavour obviously eluded the scientists. Washing the produce in an antibacterial solution can certainly have done the mushrooms no favours in the flavour department.

The mushroom festival at Kennett Square was seeking to find the best mushroom soup of 2008 - perhaps the antibacterial solution from the Penn State researcher’s lab might have been in with a shout!

Jumping into summer in July, Chronos Richardson had news of a new motorise gripper for enhanced robotic palletising. The gripper has ‘5th movement axis’ for precision bag positioning - not something one can do without in the world of grippers! As ever summer months tend to be quieter - Stalker was foxed by a news story from the web that indicated a mushroom g rowing plant was to be built at Londonderry. The Londonderry in question is situated in Australia, and moonlight mushrooms the company behind the plant was seeking approval from the local council. Stalker wondered if the denizens of that town have as much rows over the name of the place as they do in our local spot of the same nomenclature. Needless to say the plant down under was undergoing the same kind of scrutiny that seems to be affecting mushroom and composting operations around the globe; i.e. will it cause pollution in any respect, be it environmental, noise, or olfactory.

An  Fresh Info article on the Dutch mushroom company Prime Champ was very interesting. In it company director Geert Verdellen expounded on what makes the company tick. Basically efficiency and a drive to meet customer demand are the main points. Controlling the distribution chain right up to the delivery to the customer’s depot. He maintained that the food miles of produce from Holland to UK is less than the miles incurred for the produce from Ireland to UK market. He also commented that there will be decreasing availability of mushrooms based on a combination of virus outbreaks, increasing demand from the processing industry and the fact there will be fewer growers. In other news there was a report on the battle for mushroom industry votes in Pennsylvania - in the election year that was in it donations to political parties in the US were making the news in Chester County. Back home, Donegal Creameries were reported to be having a good year. The group had increased its stake in the Monaghan Mushroom group from 23 per cent to 35 percent the previous year. Shareholders were told that Monaghan was ‘performing well’.

An obituary fro Dr Jean Laborde was carried in July: Known throughout the mushroom world he was involved in research on composting , casing and technologies to improve the cultivation of Agaricus Bosporus. Among others he published the first works on indoor composting in the early ’70s and pursued to improve it until the ‘80s. His last discovery was a process for cultivating A. bisporus on non-composted and non-sterilized substrate, but he did not have the possibility to develop it himself. He also proposed new ways for the cultivation of Pleurotus (Oyster mushroom) and Lentinus (Shii-take). Other news included the discovery of an antibiotic producing mushroom in the Phillipines - plant pathologists found that the mushroom species Clitopilus passeckerianus produces the antibiotic called pleuromutilin - one nearly would think that the fungus name was made up by the Monty Python team. Scientists at Royal Holloway in London proposed that a unique fungal collection held by CABI could hold the key to future antibiotics. As part of a three-year programme, the joint research facility will utilise CABI's unique collection of fungi gathered from all parts of the world, to screen for potential new antibiotics. Although the first natural product antibiotic to be used clinically, penicillin, was isolated from a fungus, these organisms have not been as extensively evaluated as bacteria as sources of new drugs for treating infections and so there is great potential for discovery in CABI's 28,000 organism collection.

Researchers in Tennessee, meanwhile, reported that mushrooms contained high amounts of beta-glucans, compounds that help keep immune cells in a state of vigilance and thus help protect against disease. Dr Robert Beelman from PSU said that white button mushrooms had more protein, potassium, copper and selenium than oyster or shiitake mushrooms. In Australia the first death cap mushroom was found in South Australia. And closer to home, SW Adamson’s fleet of mushroom lorries - the Volvo FH16-660’s was being augmented to eleven. The company provides haulage to one of the largest

Compost producers in the country. Drivers collect from the factory in Bawtry, near Doncaster and transport fresh compost daily to mushroom farms throughout the U.K. Elsewhere in the noted Stalker mused over sporting mushrooms connections, with the Olympics coming up and the Chinese athletes predilection for cordyceps mushrooms to enhance abilities, and with Rafael Nadal choosing to eat mushrooms with his meal before beating Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final. It was a sporty mushroom month. The question of straw and a potential price hike was mooted. Farm safety got a mention too, after 18 deaths in the first 6 months on farms on the island of Ireland. Puffball the movie got a note, as did the poetry of Derek Mahon which appeared in the Leaving Cert English paper. The term expropriated mycologist was one that Stalker felt could be conjured with.

Advancing into August JF Mc Kenna were advertising Dofra watering trees and picking lorries. Page two featured a tethered Margaret Anne O’Reilly in a three legged race, and news on research findings into worm castings giving increased mushroom growth. Red wriggler worms were used to create vermicompost , which contains micronutrients which increase the rate that plants take up macronutrients and micronutrients. The study found that worm castings used as a topdressing with peat moss can lead to a five per cent increase in mushroom yield. There was a report on Northumberland oyster mushroom growing by an enterprising south African Mike Botha.. Also a news report from the UK stating that farmers and food producers were demanding reassurances from the big supermarkets that growers and processors would not be asked to foot the bill for a new round of price promotions. News too on the economy, worries about currency, inflation and oil, all indicators that went a bit haywire in the months to come. An interesting titbit included the notion that it is in Opec’s interest to see the occasional collapse in prices for oil, since that destroys capital invested in substitutes and helps to maintain long term demand! There was an item on the Messer delivering innovative technology systems to a range of food applications, including the use of CO2 snow for use with mushrooms in Lithuania. Baltic Champignons uses Messer’s coolant to stop natural fermentation of the compost and keep temperatures constant during the transport of compost to the customer. More locally, resident sin Kilcogy in Cavan were protesting against the proposed new composting facility at Carnagh Upper. The change of composting facility from mushroom compost to organic residual materials composting was causing a stink. There was good news from Louth on Tommy and Theresa Dillon adopting baby Anthony from China. On the bad news front there was a piece on Immigrant workers complaining of exploitation. The hospitality and the mushroom sector were both highlighted as particularly harsh for employment conditions. There was a mushroom recall in Canada that got a mention and it was a bumper year for British truffles apparently, due to the summer rain. Beatrix Potter also got a mention , famed for her writing , but also a notable mycology expert in her day!

In the notes there was word of Phase 3 Compost facility in Carbury coming on stream. David Totten was out east in the Orient, with a photograph of the man himself checking shelving in the factory conditions, which were hot and humid. Another marriage associated with Reen Compost was noted and another baby for Reen technical consultant Robert Wilson. Oil started to come down in price, little did we know how far it would drop. A startling fund raising achievement by former grower Mattie Quigley for the Jack and Jill foundation was noteworthy too. CMP and Bord Na Móna were on talks about a proposed waste management scheme.

Sliding into September, a black month for the world financial markets and a harbinger of the slide into recession around the world, Donegal Creameries turnover was reporting a boost from their agribusiness concerns. Frozen mushrooms were forcing down Ryanair jets and An Post in Ireland had released several new stamps with fungi on them. Oil was falling rapidly in price and the summer that wasn’t was officially declared a washout by the Met Office. The jet stream was blamed for the wet summer - the fast moving high atmosphere winds were further south than was usual, preventing the Azores high bringing hot weather from southern Europe. The wet aestival weather brought a profusion of fungi to the lands in the autumn. Warnings of a rise in poisoning cases were highlighted - during the month Scottish news led with the poisoning of Internationally renowned writer Nicholas Evans, who along with hiss wife and two friends all narrowly escaped death after eating some seriously toxic fungi they had picked.

In the US higher prices for mushrooms were offsetting lower volumes for the producers. Else where in North America the tragedy that befell six workers in Langley, British Columbia was both horrific and instructive. Three workers dies and three others were seriously injured - two critically after inhaling toxic gas. Donna Freeman, of WorkSafeBC, said men were working at a three-metre-deep outdoor containment area mixing gypsum, chicken manure and water into compost when a pipe burst in a nearby pumphouse. The compost leaked out of the pipe, causing a worker to gag inside the pumphouse. When others went in to help, they were overcome. Freeman said preliminary evidence suggests the workers were found in an "oxygen deficient area," meaning the fumes forced breathable air out of the area. One worker was found outside the pumphouse, four were found inside and a sixth was found by the containment area.

It’s the kind of accident that could happen anywhere in the world in the mushroom industry. The call for extra safety vigilance in wake of the fatal accident will hopefully be heeded.

In the Notes, the credit crunch got a few airings. The disappearance of several wall street names in the space of just over a week was starling. More locally there was a note on suppliers clamping down on accounts that have exceeded 30 days. There was mention too of the newly upgraded compost yard belonging to Walsh Mushrooms in Gorey. €1.5 million in investment had come to fruition there. The koan-like Walsh slogan Todays Quality is Tomorrows Growth got a wee touch as well. CMP were holding another AGM (is that possible?) with news from the organisation filtering out over the next few months. Cappoquin Chickens were in the news, with the company headed for closure it seemed until they got a last minute reprieve. The question of whether to rinse or wipe the fresh mushroom was also aired once again. Stalker was sticking to the wipe ‘em and eat ‘em brigade.

Orienteering into October, in a bizarre incident, Ireland’s new International football manager, Italian Giovanni Trapattoni was reported to have given mushrooms the red card in September before the Ireland team played a big match. Trapattoni admitted he was "stunned into silence for several seconds" when he saw Irish players eating mushrooms on match days. When asked to elaborate, Trapattoni pointed to his stomach and that of Robbie Keane: "If they eat mushrooms, I think that maybe the next day they make the players go, 'ooh-ah'. “ The remarks provoked much mirth among the assembled press corps, especially when Keane was asked if mushrooms caused him stomach upset.

"Maybe magic mushrooms," he replied. The Commercial Mushroom Producers (CMP) said it was going to appeal the culinary red card and has invited Trapattoni to visit its factory in Monaghan.

CMP said mushrooms were the only non-animal source of vitamin D and an ideal food for those on reduced-calorie diets, as well as being a low-calorie substitute for meat. They are also a superfood rich in riboflavin, Vitamin B7, B3 and B5 and folic acid, and a proven aphrodisiac, according to CMP.

"Perhaps Mr Trapattoni was concerned that these qualities might distract the players from the 'task in hand'," said CMP spokesman Jim Walsh. "We hope to have the opportunity to appeal directly to Mr Trapattoni when he comes back to Ireland in October for our next home game against Cyprus." Another odd little piece entitled “Strange Mushroom Scent Triggers Female Orgasm” triggered a few responses of its own. Needless to say the puns were flying about that - “sporgasm” being the best of the bunch. JFM were advertising Eco Quilt tunnel insulation, for cleaner greener safer tunnel insulation. AST Totten were advertising raw material procurement and arrangement of manufacturing in low cost countries.

The local industry mourned the passing of mushroom man Sean McArdle of McArdle Mushrooms. There were some new members mentioned elected to the board of CMP. Monterey Mushrooms had launched their new mushroom range in the US which were chock full of Vitamin D. As the blurb put it: The Sun Bella brand sun ripening process was developed through a collaborative research program with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) by exposing the mushrooms to ultra violet light, thus increasing the stable level of Vitamin D to a minimum of 100% of the level recommended by the FDA. Sun Bella brand mushrooms increase in Vitamin D does not include any additives, supplements, or chemicals and the Vitamin D is stable--maintaining its nutritional value even after cooking or freezing. Mushrooms are the only fruit or vegetable that naturally contains Vitamin D--obtained through sun exposure the same way humans organically receive the nutrient.

Conway Services had a new website up and running. Walsh Mushrooms had invitations to the industry to come along to their party to celebrate their new development opening in Gorey. Cappoquin Chickens were sold to Derby Poultry Processors, with most jobs being kept. And the Mushroom Business magazine was five years in existence in the previous month. US Ag secretary Ed Schafer announced the make up of the Mushroom Council, with one new member being announced. The council administers a national promotion, research and consumer information programme to maintain and expand markets for fresh mushrooms. Oil prices were continuing to slide and Stalker made mention of another amazing thing - the Fungo in the Vatican.

In world news, another death on a mushroom farm was reported - this time an electrocution of a worker at the Premier Mushrooms cold storage unit near Colusa in California. On happier note in the US, Art Needham, a third-generation mushroom grower from West Grove, Pa., held a groundbreaking ceremony at the 300-acre farm outside of Massey, Md., where he will start Eastern Shore Mushrooms, a mushroom farm and substrate production building. A science article in the potential for a mushroom enzyme to strip pollutants from fuel cells was of interest. John Loughhead, executive director of the UK Energy Research Centre, welcomed the work. "Much of the benefit, if they make it work, is not necessarily cleaner energy but that we no longer need to exploit scarce mineral resources, produce unpleasant by-products, and consume energy in manufacturing processes if we can grow the things naturally," he said.

Doug Parr, the chief scientist at Greenpeace, also welcomed the research, but added: "I would ask about the scale of production required [for the enzyme] — what's the yield per mushroom? How much area does it take? As a high value product that may not be too much of a barrier, but a GM fungi would need to be contained in some way." So there are pros and cons.

There was an item on a compost row in England - Residents living close to a mushroom composting farm near Doncaster have kicked up a stink about the smell drifting from the site. Town councillors at Bawtry were to give Tunnel Tech more time to carry out environmental improvement works at their Newington Farm operation. This year there seemed to more stories of composting companies coming under fire for environmental reasons.

Nudging into November, a page two report announcing that the era of cheap oil is over, may make people splutter. The claim made y the International Energy Agency does though make sense and we would be foolish to ignore it. Even as oil reaches lows of nearly $30 a barrel, the words of Professor Peter Spencer in August come flooding back - oil price crashes can be helpful to oil producing countries, to maintain long term demand - and demand means price goes up! News of a closure in the horticulture landscape of Ireland was noted, in the pending closure of the Salesian Horticultural College. Stalker noted the market fluctuations assailing the global economic system and wondered if the recessionary wind would blow hard through Ireland - thus far that wind is pretty strong. On the brighter side, Tipperary grower Peter McDonald had installed Dutch Shelving on his 20 tunnels in Tipp town. Operations there seemed to be on the up and up. There were 18 new Dutch style panel growing rooms installed at the Codd ranch on the Wicklow/Carlow border. Another indicator of some entrepreneurs giving it a lash. And six new super tunnels at the Bergin operation in Tipperary pointed to a mood of optimism among growers too. Misshapen veg also got a reprieve with an EU directive amending previous standards for fruit and vegetable shapes. There was news of a new wee McKeever in Tyrone and news of new fungi species unearthed in the UK - the Bagnoli truffle and some types of pink gills were among the new finds in Nottinghamshire. There was a call for Lithuanian immigrants to come home from the Lithuanian government - a bit of a “your country needs you” drive. In an ear to the Ground report the programme looked at an attempt to grow oyster mushrooms and truffles on logs in Ireland by John O’Connell. John is another grower who is certainly in it for the long haul. The oyster mushrooms take up to 5 years to colonise the logs, and the truffles take up to 10 years. Dr Maria Cullen from University of Limerick was also interviewed, she is carrying out an inventory of Irish fungi. In the harder end of the news spectrum; a report told of Tesco facing a revolt from suppliers; a new Zealand company was fined for odour pollution from their composting activities; and the families of the Canadian mushroom farm tragedy were seeking a meeting with country’s labour minister. There was a fuller report into the mushrooms enhanced with Vitamin D, and an interview with the writer Nicholas Evans who suffered kidney failure after the poisonous mushrooms he ate nearly killed him. A gloomy kind of month in the end. An article on whether hell is endothermic or exothermic, and one on the “Joy of Ceps” may have provided some light relief.

December dawned as ever, dark and foreboding, but for the imminent seasonal holidays. Looking forward to the New year there was the Green Challenge for Horticulture. The conference being organised by CAFRE and the HTA is to be held on Thursday 5 Feb 2009. There was also a bubble of excitement around the idea of an All Ireland Mushroom Conference being mooted for 2009 too. But dark clouds also fulminated in December with the pork crisis spilling onto the national and international scene. The story began as a small note in the national press about contamination on a pig farm, and went on to shake the confidence of consumers everywhere about where and how their food comes to them. On the currency front the Pound and Euro converged to near parity during the month - one could nearly hear the screams of businesses up and down the country. For varying reasons the convergence caused consternation on all sides. And the death of mycology in the UK was prematurely announced on BBC radio. Mycologists came out of the woodwork to protest their demise. The idea of a mushroom Monday was picked up from a US promotion - not a bad idea at all. Reports that Danish scientists were seeking to find a solution to energy problems using s Chinese mushroom intrigued. There was more bad news out of Canada with one large company being fined for pollution and another seeking creditor protection - the year was not a good one for the Canadian mushroom industry. On a more joyful note, the treatment of maple wood by the fungus Xylaria longipes was credited with giving the Stradivarius violins their distinctive and amazing sound. Who woulda thunk that the mushroom was involved in so many things throughout the year. From the energy crisis to the sound of music, from antibiotics to antioxidants, from the Beijing Olympics to Wimbledon, from Waikato In New Zealand to the city hall in Belfast.

As Professor Lynn Boddy puts it: “ Without fungi we would still be living in the ocean.” So in 2009 as experts tell us we stand on the brink of economic and environmental mayhem, it’s a comforting thought that the humble mushroom contains all that has brought us this far and understanding of it will perhaps help us continue on as guardians of this planet that allows us to live on it.