Overview

Although over 2,000 varieties of mushrooms are edible, only a handful have become important in the American diet. The mushrooms most familiar to U.S. buyers are the "whites" or common button agaricus. Other varieties of agaricus, the criminis and portabellas, are known as the “browns.” Shiitake (shee tah kay), oyster, wood ear and enoki (e nok e) mushrooms are also popular. Particularly in the Pacific Northwest and the northeastern United States, seasonal species such as morels, oysters and chanterelles are gathered in the wild and sold at farmers' markets and through retail stores. U.S. consumers continue to purchase increasing amounts of fresh, canned and dried mushrooms, both domestic and imported. 

Production

Overall mushroom production continues to increase slightly even as the value of mushroom sales decreases slightly. During the 2008-09 season, nearly 817 million pounds of U.S. mushrooms were produced, up 1 percent from the 2007-08 season. The total value of the crop was $957 million, down 1 percent from the previous season. The number of commercial mushroom growers is up by six, reaching 285. The average price for U.S. mushrooms was $1.17 per pound, down 1 cent from last season.  (NASS 2009)  May 2010 ... Mushrooms
 

Marketing

• American Mushroom Institute - A national trade association representing the growers, processors and marketers of cultivated mushrooms.
• Congress and Agencies Should Take Additional Steps to Reduce Substantial Shortfalls in Duty Collection, Government Accountability Office, 2008 - Over $600 million in duties remain uncollected, dating back to 2001. A majority of the uncollected duties comes from four products from China: crawfish tail meat ($354 million), garlic ($75 million), honey ($43 million), and mushrooms ($41 million).
• Global Agricultural Trade System (GATS), Foreign Ag Service (FAS), USDA, 2009.
• Mushroom Council - Information on basic mushroom production, types, care and handling and recipes.
• Mushroom Grower's Newsletter - Covers all aspects of the world-wide industry. Includes a bookstore, information board and list of suppliers.
• Mushroom Marketing, Question of the Week, ATTRA, National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT), 2007.
• Mushrooms, National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), USDA, 2009.
• Mushrooms, Vegetables and Melons Yearbook, Economic Research Service (ERS), USDA, May 2010.
• Retail Best Practices: Initial Study, Mushroom Council, 2009 - This study investigated how to help grow mushrooms sales and improve profits. Other findings include: (1) The average consumer spends $10 per year on mushrooms and (2) Of the top five favorite fresh vegetables, mushrooms rank third.
• U.S. per capita food availability, ERS, USDA, 2008.

Processing/Manufacturing

• Crop King Mushroom Production Unit, Seville, Ohio - Provider of mushroom products for commercial and hobby growers.
• Gourmet Mushrooms, Inc., Sebastopol, California - Supplier of food and neutraceutical mushrooms and mushroom products, also automated production systems, kits for hobbyists and educators and "direct-to-chef" marketing arrangements. 

Production

• Alternative Ag Ventures - Mushrooms, Center for Innovative Food Technology, Ohio.
• Basic Procedures for Agaricus Mushroom Growing, Pennsylvania State University, 2003 - This fact sheet outlines the mushroom production cycle and gives a brief description of each production stage.
• The Edible Mycorrhizal Mushroom Research Group, Uppsala University, Sweden - Various research reports on edible mushrooms.
• Flower City Mushrooms, Sustainable Ag Research and Education (SARE) Farmer Grant Profiles, 2008 - John Morelli experimented with different substrate materials for growing King Oyster mushrooms in order to maximize production.
• Fungi Perfecti, LLC, Olympia, Washington - Growing kits, spawn, books, seminars and siliar information from acclaimed Pacific Northwest mycologist Paul Staments.
• Gourmet & Medicinal Mushrooms, University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service, 2009.
• Growing Shiitake Mushrooms in an Agroforestry Practice, University of Missouri Extension, 2008.
• A Guide to the Fungus Among Us, Pennsylvania State University.
• Mushroom Cultivation and Marketing, ATTRA, NCAT, 2004.
• Mushroom Production, Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Queensland, Australia.
• Mushroom Production, University of Sydney, Australia.
• Mushroom Production: Sweetening the Smell, Penn State University.
• Mushrooms, Vegetables and Melons Outlook, ERS, USDA, 2008.
• Shiitake and Oyster Mushrooms, University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service, 2007.
• Shiitake Mushroom Production on Logs, Alabama Cooperative Extension System.

 Businesses/Case Studies

• Farming the Fungi Kingdom—Organically, Rodale Institute, 2004 - An Ohio couple develops their mushroom hobby into a viable second career.
• Forest Mushrooms, Inc., St. Joseph, Minnesota - Kevin Doyle grows mushrooms on an old hog farm and distributes them to supermarkets, retailers, restaurants and wholesalers, as well as selling them at the local farmers' market.
• Growing a Farm Business with Jim Ruster, Michigan Farm News, April 2010 - Jim Ruster of Michigan says the time is right for farmers to take advantage of increasing possibilities for profit in mushroom growing.
• Riding the Mushroom Boom: Small-Scale Growers Seek Niche in Cultivation of Exotics - A profile of Dean and Kathy Hansen, small-volume high-quality producers specializing in food-grade and medicinal mushrooms, and Petaluma Mushrooms, a large-scale button mushroom producer.
• Shiitake Mushrooms, The New American Farmer, SARE, USDA.

Links checked April 2010.