An American president Harry S Truman had a notice on his Desk which said ‘The Buck Stops Here’. Something similar applies to the mushroom growers – not the distributors, merchants or supermarkets – The Producers!
During the dog days of summer the growers are obliged to self harm by cutting back production to match demand and during this period the fixed costs of the producer are mostly just that – fixed.
To a large extent a mushroom farm works best following a certain fixed routine week by week such as regular amounts of compost and casing and bed area. These standard deliveries are dealt with by a mostly full time staff working best to a routine. It is possible to maintain a certain rhythm of efficient working all year round and have instant flexibility in order to produce 10-20% more (or less) mushrooms. This adaptability is easily achieved by the inclusion of Mycro Nutrient granules in the casing. The increased production is achieved without extra deliveries of compost or increased bed area.
At the end of the summer when demand rises and compost and production areas go up, continued used of Mycronutrient granules gives a further boost to production giving extra income to make up for the summer slack.
A certain amount of production adjustment at the beginning and end of summer is easily achieved by the number of beds which include Mycronutrient granules.
The following year as demand is reduced, production routines are maintained with no disruption but production is reduced by not cutting Mycronutrient.
The casing nutrient products are best suited to a casing at pH8 and well mixed in the casing. There are certain strategies that growers can do to obtain the optimum level of pH.
The two pictures below are sister houses on an Irish farm; compost and casing, the only difference being one is treated.
Normal house pinning
Their use results in 10-20% increase in yield; an improvement in quality and a shorter pinning time. Yield increase is spread over 3 flushes.
