In September, the 75th Jahrestagung of the BDC was held in Heilbronn, Germany. As usual, it proved to be a very interesting gathering, with relatively many representatives from the Dutch mushroom industry. There were insightful lectures on consumer outreach by Michael Legrand (‘Kulturpilze sind Superhelden’), and research on alternatives for peat in casing soil by Natalie Rangno. Highlight of the conference however, were the presentations by four suppliers of automated harvesting systems that are running presently on