U.S. Mushroom Industry Far From Decomposiing
Tim Hammerich
News Reporter
When you think of a farm, you may picture corn, wheat, alfalfa, trees or even dairy cows. But most people don’t think about the humble mushroom. The National Agricultural Statistics Service surveys the U.S. mushroom industry every year and NASS’s Lance Honig says despite flying under the radar, mushrooms are a big business.
Honig… “ It's a specialty crop, and a lot of times we don't probably give the thought we should to a crop like mushrooms. Really, you're talking about a billion dollar valued crop. And so even though it's a relatively small number of folks that produce the mushrooms, it's a big dollar crop. And so we wanna make sure that we get a measure on that.”
Honig says the upcoming annual survey is focused on U.S. mushroom growers and trends in their industry.
Honig… “ We do get into some specifics when it comes to varieties. The Agaricus of course is a big component. We've got some data that we will be producing there specifically for that type. There's also some data around Shiitake, Oyster and there are some other categories that we throw in there. And then most importantly, looking at the crop as a whole. It is a relatively small population that produces this crop, but it's not only a big dollar crop in total, but different types that makes a difference. Not only how many in total are being produced, but folks want to know information.”
That’s Lance Honig of the National Agricultural Statistics Service.
