Mushrooms

The mushroom industry is the largest horticultural sector in Ireland. It has a farm gate value of €158.6 million, of which approximately 85% is exported to the UK. It currently employs over 3,000 people. Bord Bia indicate that the UK market for mushrooms is growing steadily in recent years at about 2% per year. Button/Closed cup mushrooms hold the largest share of the market followed by Flat/Breakfast mushrooms, value mushrooms and then the sliced and exotic mushrooms.

Production

Production is holding at 70,000 tonnes annually with 25 growers producing Agaricus on about 32 production units. Compost production and mushroom marketing are largely integrated in Ireland with a few companies dominating both areas. Phase 3 compost is an important driver of competitiveness in the industry as it boosts yields and quality.

Labour is a very significant cost of production as retail mushrooms are handpicked. Harvesting management courses and picker training courses have contributed enormously to labour cost efficiencies with the added bonuses of better worker output, satisfaction and improved quality of product. Overall production efficiency can be improved by best practice picking regimes.

Mushroom Production Factsheet (PDF)

Mushroom Advisor, Donal Gernon demonstrates the correct way to treat Cobweb disease on mushrooms.

Donal Gernon, demonstrates how to deal with Dry Bubble on your crop. In this video, he shows how to apply salt (NaCl) to an infected crop. Note that good fly control is also essential in keeping Lacanicillium (causative agent of Dry Bubble) at-bay.