Lancaster Farming, Saturday, Dec. 20. 1975
20
Mushrooms
I Continued from Pa|t 1|
mushroom business because |3.40 per three-pound box.
he was "tired of plastering.” Prices change from day to
Receipts were high during day, sometimes by as much
his first year in business but as 30 cents. "It used to be
it bottomed out the following that price fluctuations
year, he related. Prices stayed within the five to 10-
usually follow eight-year cent range,” Kirk noted.
cycles, although the The mushroom business
variation in these cycles has has not been expanded much
changed significantly in by small growers, as Kirk
recent years. secs it. A few large cor-
Depcndmg on their size, porations such as Clorox and
and quality, mushrooms are Purina have gone into it,
currently selling for $2 30 to however - notably in Florida.
Judy Kirk, left, and Brenda Doss, display some of
the mushrooms they were packing earlier this
week for shipment to as far away as New York and
Florida. Mushroom prices are up significantly from
a year ago, and sales are booming this week
because of the holidays. Sales and prices are likely
to drop again after New Year’s Day.
...and
Please,
Oh LORD,
Let there
be Peace
on Earth
Wolgemuth Bros., Inc. I
Mount Joy, Pa.
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Growers in this part of
Pennsylvania consider a
crop of three pounds per
square foot as "average or
satisfactory," Kirk noted.
He has grown as many as
four pounds per square foot,
but it’s not as easily ac
complished as it used to be.
In fact, three pounds per
square foot is sometimes
hard to come by. The reason
is disease, although this is a
point disputed by others who
are either directly or in
directly associated with the
industry.
Frank Charlton, a
mushroom hauler with 20
years of experience behind
him, was loading baskets of
mushrooms into his truck
when this reporter visited
the Kirk mushroom
operation. Asked for his
opinion of trends in the
mushroom business,
Charlton remarked “it’s a lot
harder to make a living with
it now than it used to be."
Expressing a bit of bit
terness over newly-enacted
regulations, he questions the
necessity of having
mushroom growers go to
school to learn how to use
pesticides they’ve been using
for years.
Aside from production
costs which have risen
significantly, the industry as
a whole has been plagued for
years by publicity-seeking
reporters and politicians.
“ITiere’s something mystic
about mushrooms,” one
gentleman said, “and people
respond to news about
them.” Such incidents, he
observed, can launch an
overly ambitious politician
or public official into the
limelight in a hurry while
[MMnMNMIJf
simultaneously pushing
mushroom sales into slumps.
In his opinion the problem is
one of overreaction and
unscrupulous use of
mushrooms as vehicles to
big headlines.
Other factors to poor sales
are imports and regulations.
While southeastern Penn
sylvania mushroom growers
rely primarily on the fresh
market, they do face com
petition from foreign canned
products.
Kirk sells the bulk of his
crop to fresh mushroom
handlers, as opposed to
canneries and soup
manufacturers. Never
theless, the soup market has
a strong influence on fresh
market prices, he said.
With 24,000 square feet of
growing space, Kirk’s
operation is regarded as
being smaller than average.
He expanded to his present
size (three double houses)
within the first four years he
was in business and has no
immediate plans for ad
ditional buildings.
Growing mushrooms, the
middle-aged former con
tractor explained, is not only
hard work, but a business
which requires exacting
conditions. Temperatures
within the houses, for
example, must be main
tained within a couple of
degrees of the desired level.
This requires the use of
heating equipment and air
conditioners - both expensive
items in the costs of
production ledgers.
Compost is pasteurized
Look neighbor... you
LT IT
BE
Feed fast and quiet - no feed
separation with a Jamesway®
Volume-Belt® cattle feeder.
YOU CAN COUNT ON U Si
i
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Broilers increasing
HARRISBURG according to the Crop
Production of broiler chicks Reporting Service.
in Pennsylvania was on the
increase for the week ending Placements were eight
December 10 with pe rce nt above the previous
placements of 1,336,000, we ek, but one percent below
and the "casing .oil” is HS r “7Sr““ Dg *
sterilized to keep out an- '
desirable organisms and Average placements
provide the mushrooms with during the past ten weeks
a favorable growth medium, were six percent above a
In fact, the entire mushroom year ea rlier.
house is treated prior to each
new crop to insure near
laboratory cleanliness.
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