Truffles in the Pacific Northwest

Truffles in the Pacific Northwest

I’m KayDee Gilkey with the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report.

Truffles, the king of mushrooms, is one of the the costliest per pound of ag product in the world. Although many people think of Europe as to where where truffles are grown, they are native to the Pacific Northwest.

Did you know that Oregon State University has the strongest truffle research program available outside of Europe? Dr. Charles Lefevre, president of New World Truffieres shares that having that research located here in the Northwest is one of the factors that makes truffles such an exciting agricultural venture for the Pacific Northwest.

Lefevre: “Oregon State University is the university with the strongest reputation for truffle research outside of Europe. The fact that we have a lineage of truffle researchers at Oregon State in Corvallis. The fact that we have native truffles here. This is one of the only regions of the world that has its own native truffles living under Douglas fir trees. We have the climate and soils to grow the French truffles. We have my company, one of the leaders in producing inoculated truffle trees and we have the Oregon Truffle Festival all of those things combine to create kind of nexus here in the Northwest. We believe that this could become one of the premier areas for truffle production outside of Europe.”

Last February, the first North American cultivated Bianchetto (BE-AnnCATTO) or Tuscany white truffle was harvested in a truffle orchard near Boise. It took four years for this orchard to begin producing truffles.

For more information about truffle production in the Pacific Northwest go to www.truffletree.com