The All Ireland and UK Mushroom Conference and Trade Show 2013 was billed as the inaugural event of a newly constituted conference line up,  combining the transnational collaborative powers of the HDC in England with the AFBI from Northern Ireland and Teagasc from Ireland. Sponsors of the event included the three national bodies along with Bord Bia, CMP, Northway, IFA and Sylvan.

The Trade Show got underway at 11 a.m. with all exhibitors and stands in their place ready for the influx of mushroom industry personnel. By 2pm there was quite a buzz about the exhibition hall as the Minister For Horticulture Tom Hayes TD arrived for a quick tour around before opening the conference sessions. At the end of his address the Minister mentioned the highly professional standard of the Trade Show.

 David Small,  the deputy secretary from the DARD NI also toured the exhibits before the co-opening address to conference. A slightly late start then, but the conference soon got into full swing as the conference hall filled up.

Minister Hayes was delighted to see so many people from around the country at the event - especially the Tipperary contingent. The minister noted that Irish mushrooms whether from North or South are treated as one in the market place - he stressed that it  was important that this continue.  He noted the integration of the industry at all levels, from scientific research, to the major producer organisations and marketing.  He remarked that mushroom growers were no longer small artisanal food producers, but  were now medium to large scale food producing entities with all that that entails.  With all the personal and financial input that growers have to give to sustain the industry the minister was happy to say that a further €4.2 million was allocated in the Irish budget that very week for investment in the horticultural industry. This signalled the governments recognition of the industry value to the economy and hopes that it will add to the economic development of the country. The minister said  that the industry should look forward with confidence as it had proven ability in innovation and adaptability. A clear goal for the industry is a sustainable future, he said.

He also mentioned that staff must be properly trained and mentored, and properly looked after - that is what the modern world demands.

He was also admiring of the industry's ability to gain EU funding for promotion of the produce - a continuing factor in the industry's success he maintained.

The minister asserted that many others in the agri sector and indeed industries from other sectors in the economy could take a lesson from the mushroom industry.

He thanked Teagasc and Bord Bia for all their help in the industry success.

The minister mentioned he had toured CMP earlier in the day and met with many of the key people in the industry. He  congratulated the industry for its inventiveness and resolute determination in  the face of the tough economic climate.

David Small,  the deputy secretary from DARD opened his address to conference by saying he was delighted that the UK and Ireland were coming together at this inaugural event, to share ideas and help direct the mushroom industry forward. He reiterated the importance of renewable energy to the industry and acknowledged his colleague David Trimble who was later to address conference on ways to reduce energy bills and capitalise on available grant opportunities in the renewable field. He also took the opportunity to plug the upcoming Cafre Renewable energy event on October 29th.  Mr Small indicated how DARD believes the cross border nature of collaboration in the mushroom industry is most certainly the right direction to go in, and mentioned how staff from AFBI and DARD had helped both UK and Irish growers in the mushroom sector with  BASIS accreditation over the previous year. He said how he had detected optimism amongst the mushroom industry personnel he had met at the event and it reflected the optimism about the theme of conference this year, Investing in the Future. He believes that the Irish industry as a whole is a strong player in the overall European mushroom sector and has not only survived the recent tough times, but has also become stronger.

He noted that the Northern Irish Agri-food industry was shown in recent economic analysis to be growing, despite all the pressures faced by it - energy costs rising, financing difficulties, up-skilling of workforce etc.

Mr Small spoke about the Strategic Outlook Plan: going for growth, investing in success, compiled by the department in consultation with growers producers, marketers, major multiples and environmental groups. It holds 118 recommendations focusing on increasing exports and stimulating entrepreneurship and innovation. As he mentioned the targets for 2020 are ambitious - growing sales for the NI agri-food sector by 60% to £7bn - growing employment by 15 % to 115,000, growing export sales by 75% to £4.5bn.

The conference then swung into full technical discussion mode with  session 1 beginning with Mush TV research update from Teagasc's Helen Grogan and Mairéad Kilpatrick from the AFBI. There was a Q& A session from the floor after this update - with robust questioning from  some of the audience and robust answering from the panel. The next topic was harvesting for quality addressed by  Colm Feely from the Monaghan Mushrooms Group. Next the theme  was picking to optimise profit by the inimitable Leslie Codd. Finally the overrunning session 1 was addressed by Tom Kellegher from Teagasc on raising your game - production targets.

After some refreshments sponsored by Northway PO, and the odd bit of Trade Show interaction Session 2 started up chaired by Thomas Martin of CMP. The subjects addressed in session 2 were  Verticilium and Cobweb Control by Helen Grogan. There was an energy Update by Brendan Burns of Sylvan. David Trimble from Cafre ( not the ex First Minister of NI you'll note) looked at how you can reduce your electricity bill, a thorny and salient topic for all businesses and individuals alike these days! Alice McGlynn from Bord Bia addressed the question of Traceability, and why it matters. And finally Michael Slawski of Bord Bia looked at Marketing and promotion in the UK and Ireland.

There followed and Industry Session on Growing market Share with input from Paul Wilson of Monaghan Mushrooms, Padraic O'Leary of Walsh Mushrooms, Mel O' Rourke Sylvan Europe and Thomas Martin, CMP.

There was another swirl of activity around the exhibition hall with plenty of intermingling and transactional activity in evidence. The conference and trade show shut up shop on or about the appointed time, and many personnel were spotted in the hotel environs and watering holes up to the witching hour of midnight - quite apt considering the Halloween decorations in the hotel foyer.

Many of the industry personnel were intent on maintaining some level of freshness for the farm and business visits that were lined up for the following day.

All in all the conference was deemed very successful, covering a lot of ground and setting the industry up for an exciting few years to come. With the promise of investment and optimism pervading there was a definite buzz and bounce to be going on with....