Hdc Mushroom Panel Meeting

HDC MUSHROOM PANEL OPEN SESSION MEETING

Venue: Lantra House, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, CV8 2LG Date: Tuesday 2nd July 2013

Attendees: Mr Mark Komatsu (Chair) Mr Jim Rothwell Dr John Burden Mr Neil Bragg (HDC) Mr Mark Irwin Mr Rodney Barrett Miss Katie Irgin (HDC) Mr Harlan Sharpe Dr Kerry Burton (EMR) Dr Jon Knight (HDC) Mr David Mann Dr Helen Grogan Dr Bill Parker (HDC) Mr Willie Wood (Teagasc) Dr Jude Wilson Dr Chris Hartfield (NFU)

Apologies: Dr Charles Lane (Fera) Prof Ralph Noble (EMR)

Minutes

Item Item subject Action 1 Welcome and apologies for absence The Chair welcomed the attendees to the meeting. Apologies were received from Charles Lane and Ralph Noble.

2 Matters arising from the minutes of the meeting held on 5 March 2013 The minutes were approved by the Panel.

3 Communications Katie Irgin outlined the planned communications and knowledge transfer activities outlined in Paper 8. It is expected that four factsheets will be produced during the MushTV project. HDC is sponsoring the Ireland and UK Mushroom Conference 2013 (17-18 October 2013, Monaghan, Ireland).

4 Update on current projects Project leaders presented an update on their research projects. Key points from the presentations and discussions included:

M 56 - Understanding Mushroom Nutrition: project aimed at improving yield, substrate efficiency and utilisation and understanding (Kerry Burton) - Rationale for project (yield timing and quality determined by available nutrition in the compost; limited knowledge of mushroom nutrition; supplement usage may be arbitrary/non-optimised; demand for straw and soy is increasing) - Soy-based protein, oils, carboxylic acids and mineral based micronutrients will be investigated. - Project is going forward with Monaghan Mushrooms involved. - Project will review current usage of supplements in Phase III compost; experimentally determine the effects of commercial supplements in different Phase III composts and understand how the supplements are working - Currently undertaking project planning e.g. choice of composts and supplements and coordination with Campden BRI.

M 57 - Mushrooms: Trichoderma aggressivum f. europaeum (Th2): Influence of ammonia during compost pasteurisation on eradication (Kerry Burton on behalf of Ralph Noble) - Objectives were to determine effect of ammonia on eradication of Th2, test detection methods and make recommendations on ammonia concentrations needed and disinfectants. - Urea at 300 ppm ammonia has no effect. Tafe spores and grain inoculum require 60 °C for 12 hours and very high inoculum can survive. - There is good agreement between the detection methods (PCR and agar plating). As the PCR method is very specific to particular strains, it can give negative samples with positive agar plating results. - Disolite and conc bleach were most effective against spores. Omnicide M was also effective against spores. Phenolics were most effective against mycelium and Omnicide M and Sporekill also effective. Phenolics are not suitable on trays. - Tafe innoculum is very resistant when in compost.

M 58 – MushTV (solutions for the mushroom industry to emerging disease threats from Trichoderma and Virus) (Helen Grogan) - There are seven work packages within the project - A number of disinfectants are being looked at. Spores are killed by most disinfectants. However, compost particles containing the mycelium were not effectively killed by disinfectants. Therefore, it is important that the compost fragments are removed to ensure good hygiene. - MVX characterisation and diagnostics - 17 viruses have been sequences and classified. RNA extraction from compost method has been developed. - Volatile detection method for Trichoderma detection in Phase III compost. Trichoderma does produce characteristic volatiles and these are being explored. - Locating reservoirs of MVX and Trichoderma infections – pilot studies have been completed. - Bacillus subtilis for control of mushroom pathogens in Phase III. It gave no control for Wet Bubble and Trichoderma. Experiments for Cobweb and Dry Bubble are still to be done. Other biocontrol products may be considered for further testing. - Trichoderma growth within Phase III tunnel. Experiments where Trichoderma grew in the tunnel but was not visible at emptying resulted in yield losses highly correlated with Trichoderma growth. Air fall out plates placed near tunnels at emptying are a useful monitoring tool for composters.

M 60 – Developing alternatives to peat in casing materials for mushroom production (Kerry Burton on behalf of Ralph Noble) - There is increased interest within EU countries on alternatives to peat in mushroom production. - Items being investigated include mature bark, green waste compost, spent casing, granulated rockwool slabs and spent coir. - Trials at Rothwells have used Harte and Everris casing. Harte is a ‘heavy’ casing and the alternatives increase the porosity. There is not a linear relationship between air filled porosity and yield. - Alternative materials lower the water tension. - The next trial will be held at Flixton mushrooms - Mush Comb casing separator was visited while attending Mushroom Days. The casing is stripped off by the separator but needs sufficient time for mushroom residues to degrade and for pasteurisation. It is important to note that crops are not cooked-out in the Netherlands.

5 Full Proposals and Concept Notes Assessing Bioaerosol Concentrations in Mushroom Farm Packhouses and Growing Facilities (Toni Gladding, Open University) The Chair provided a summary of the initial views of the elected members: most growers consider the industry as safe and it was felt that the study could be more extensive, perhaps over a longer period to obtain a robust data set. Key comments from the subsequent discussion included: - The panel were unsure whether five farms would be sufficient to confirm the lack of risk. It was queried how representative this sample size would be of the industry. Further information on the sample sizes taken on each farm would also be helpful. - Charles Lane’s comments were considered. Sampling for Fera could be done as additional work, if appropriate and supported by the panel. If explored, monitoring for Cobweb may be more successful than Trichoderma aggressivum. Further discussion would be needed. - Sampling at a packhouse would be sensible for exotic mushroom samples. - Anderson traps will separate particles sufficiently for the proposed work. - The HSE report ‘Occupational and environmental exposure to bioaerosols from composts and potential health effects’ lists glucans and endotoxin. - If supported, this work needs to be carried out in a manner which permits incorporation into a larger dataset rather than duplicating effort. - If supported, the health and safety questionnaires should be circulated to the panel for consideration prior to completion by staff due to the sensitivity of the topic. An alternative approach could be to use on-farm health records.

Revisit Trichoderma aggressivum f aggressivum – evaluating risks (Charles Lane, Fera) It was agreed that for a grower, the same hygienic approach would be used for Tafe or Tafa. It was acknowledged that there may be some merit in being able to distinguish between the strains and a PCR test with sufficient sensitivity to identify the two strains may be useful.

6 Spent Mushroom Compost discussion The Chair outlined previous discussions from earlier panel meetings during the initial consultation period (2010) .The Panel were asked whether growers were encountering difficulty with the regulations and if there is a need to increase the tonnage stored. It was noted that within Ireland, mushroom waste is less of an issue. SMC must be stored on a concrete platform and there is a requirement to be able to store sufficient volumes for 16-20 weeks. It was recognised that SMC is reused within the Netherlands. Ben Malin is intending on developing and submitting a case to the EA to achieve ‘end of waste’ status for SMC. Progress on this has been limited. The Panel agreed that there is a need to get to a position where SMC can be reused without being classified as a waste and that a firm approach to Defra and the EA is required. ACTION: CH to review the options and see what opportunities there are. NFU Also to ask NFU contacts for more information about practices and regulations within Europe. ACTION: Ralph Noble to contact Ben Malin with regard to M 60, peat RN reduction and SMC. ACTION: Panel to form a working group to lead this work forward. Panel

7 Group Brainstorm The panel agreed that diagnostics is something that is of interest to aid the grower. Progress on waste classification is required and leachate aspect needs considering. It was noted that Teagasc has a PhD project to use SMC as a peat replacement with good yields being obtained. A leaching programme is required though.

8 Any other business and date and location of future meetings The next panel meeting is scheduled to be Tuesday 5th November 2013, venue tbc. The Panel was supportive of holding the next meeting at Fera, following the invitation of Charles Lane.

Close of meeting

Katie Irgin 3rd July 2013

Distribution: Mr Mark Komatsu (Chairman) Dr John Burden Mr Neil Bragg (HDC) Mr Jim Rothwell Mr Rodney Barrett Miss Katie Irgin (HDC) Mr Mark Irwin Dr Kerry Burton (EMR) Dr Jon Knight (HDC) Mr Harlan Sharpe Dr Helen Grogan (Teagasc) Dr Bill Parker (HDC) Mr David Mann Dr Chris Hartfield (NFU) Mr Willie Wood Dr Charles Lane (Fera) Dr Jude Wilson Prof Ralph Noble (EMR)