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A fine bottle of wine is offered to the spawn sup- pliers. From left to right Jochen Winkhoff (BDC), Hubert Hay (Amycel) Eric Vernooij (Lambert Spawn Europe), Harry Hesen (Sylvan) and Michael Schattenberg (new BDC chairman).


and hyper modern mushroom production sites. The production and consumption figures are staggeringly. An estimated 22,600,000 tons of various varieties of mushrooms are produced, while at 16 kilos per annum, consumption per capita is ten times that in Germany!” Groos also spoke on the sheer diversity of the varieties grown in China – around 60 – and the composition of the raw materials. In closing, he invited the attendees to visit the Hessicher Pilztag 2013, which will be held on 6 November in the neighbourhood of Vienna.


Speed Spawn and Energy After a delicious lunch, the afternoon session started with Christian Otto from VEA in Hanover, a consul- tancy specialised in advice on the energy market and price developments in energy. Otto stated that taking long-term decisions regarding investments in energy is difficult due to the postponement of political decisions in Germany and Europe. Energy prices in Germany are also under pressure from taxation and network costs according to Otto. Next to speak was Hubert Hay, from Amycel. He revealed the latest developments relating to Speed Spawn, a strain of spawn that grows on an alternative form of substrate instead of grain. Hay: “Our version of Speed Spawn, called Onyxx, consist of 15 different ingredients. It takes longer to produce the spawn, because of the extra attention needed for mixing and structure. The advantage, that has already been proven in practice, is that it colonises the compost faster as the product offers more points for spawn run to start from. The production costs are, however, also higher.” The same subject was also addressed by Eric Vernooij from Lambert Spawn Europa and Harry Hesen from Sylvan. Vernooij emphasised that the develop- ment of Speed Spawn in Europe is still in its infancy, but that this strain is already widely popular in the USA. “Its use there is mainly seen as a way of controlling Trichoderma. The faster colonisation means that this green mould has less chance to develop.” Vernooij also mentioned how important it is to mix this strain


of spawn well with the compost. Harry Hesen also explained that the rise in the use of ASR (Accelerated Spawn Run, the Sylvan name for the product) in the USA can be attributed to the current Trichoderma problems there, but that it was too soon to expect to see sweeping changes in Europe yet. ”We are currently doing research in England, Ireland the US and Aus- tralia. One of the aims is to see whether an incubation time in tunnels of less than 14 days is feasible, which would be a huge step for Europe. We need some more time for our research, but I am cautiously optimistic.”


Mart Christiaens from the Christiaens Group spoke about the various energy saving systems , such as heat pumps, a cold and heat source and heating and cooling underneath the beds in the growing room. He also sees a big advantage in solar panels on farms. They generate the most energy precisely when most energy is needed for cooling. GTL Europe’s Peter Bouten was the second speaker on energy. He examined the advantages of control based on moisture deficit, and tried to explain to the audience again just how impor- tant understanding the Mollier diagram is for proper climate management. Controlling the inlet moisture was also discussed. Finally, Andreas Wohlers from OM Pilze introduced his company, host to the afternoon’s farm walk.


Oldenburger Münsterland Pilze Then it was time to recharge the batteries for the party in the evening, that despite the location being Bremen in north Germany had a distinct Bavarian flavour. Due to the overwhelming success at last year’s event, the organisers had invited the same Bavarian band to provide a musical accompaniment to the meal and to get the dance floor heaving later on. On Saturday morning the event was concluded by a visit to OM Pilze. A portrait of this farm was already published in a previous edition.◗


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