The influenza virus that has stricken the Dutch poultry industry has had a knock-on effect in the country's mushroom production.
Due to the chicken industry being effectively shut down, there is no chicken manure for the Dutch composters to use.
Hence Dutch compost makers have been forced to use pig slurry as the stopgap solution.
Compost experts here maintain that this is a trickier recipe for making the compost than the usual chicken manure one. The Dutch composters have to get the mix spot on or they may well end up with inferior compost. This in turn would lead to lower yields.
This cloud for the Dutch industry may well prove to be a silver lining for the Irish. Reduced competitiveness from the formidable Dutch industry might well provide Irish growers with the space to capitalize on the supply side to the UK.
