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CANADA Beating the big freeze
Winnipeg, the capital of Manitoba, Canada is where Burton Loveday, representing the fourth gene- ration of the Loveday dynasty, produces compost and mushrooms – under sometimes extremely challenging conditions. That feat demands a wealth of technical ingenuity, partnered with a laid- back, flexible attitude.
By Jos Buth, Mushroom Advice Network
josbuth@gmail.com
The wide open spaces of Manitoba.
Burton’s mushroom farm is experiencing a period of tremendous progress. After a flurry of new building a few years ago, January of this year saw the start up of a new, Dutch-built tunnel facility where both phase II and phase III compost is produced. This compost is used on both the old farm with its wooden tray system and the new Dutch-style farm, equipped with a shelving system and computers and the latest technological advances. Fred Loveday, Burton’s great-grandfather, launched his mushroom business in 1929 growing on wooden beds. Nowadays, this original location almost touches the centre of today’s downtown Winnipeg; the farm was forced to relocate in 1952 by the encroaching tide of ur-
banisation. After several trips to Great Britain, Burton’s father switched from growing in beds to growing in trays, as at the time working with trays was less labour intensive than using wooden beds. Burton, in turn, is now embarking on a process of actively modernising and expanding the company. Phase I compost is still produced on the old site, and the mushrooms from both sites are still packaged at the old location.
Winterpeg Loveday Mushrooms Ltd. is the only commercial mushroom farm in Manitoba, and there is not even a white button producer to be found in the neighbou-
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