Published March 1965 — Download PDF of the original newspaper column
From the Office of United States Senator Robert C. Byrd Room 342, Old Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510 Volume V – Number 13 March 26, 1965 Byrd's Eye View A Public Service Column by Senator Robert C. Byrd MUSHROOM GROWING Commercial mushroom growing in caves and abandoned mines offers a new potential for industry in West Virginia. Mushroom culture, while not new in the United States, has been, in the past, fairly generally concentrated in the States of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New York, near larger, metropolitan areas. Actually, climatic and soil conditions would permit commercial mushroom production throughout the country, except for States of the Deep South, where the necessity for costly refrigeration would make it prohibitive. Also, past major commercial mushroom production has been in long, narrow, shed-like buildings, designed to permit regulation of temperature, humidity, and ventilation. A more recent innovation in mushroom culture has been the use of abandoned limestone and gypsum mines and caves for housing mushroom beds established on small movable trays of compost. Because these caves and mines can be cheaply modified to provide the year-round conditions favorable for the growing phase of mushroom culture, they offer a special advantage to growers in this highly competitive industry. Mushroom culture has two phases: (1) pasteurizing manure and the production of “spawn” in primary beds; and (2) growth of the mushrooms in permanent beds. When caves and mines are utilized for housing the growth stage, special sheds for soil pasteurization and mushroom spawning must be built separately from the cavern, for better control of sanitation and heat. The sanitation of the compost and mushroom spawning material--usually sterile manure, rye grain, or tobacco stems--is highly important, as mushrooms easily become the prey of fungus growths, nematodes, mites, and insects. The success of a commercial grower is largely dependent on his ability to exclude or control these pests. The two largest mushroom plants in the United States are underground cavern installations, located in New York and Pennsylvania. Illinois has a similar installation. In West Virginia, a mushroom farm is operating in Marshall County, partially utilizing a clay mine, and is producing approximately 2,000 lbs. of excellent quality mushrooms daily, with a high production potential for the future. However, it is not recommended that investors rush out to buy up a number of West Virginia's abandoned mines in order to go into mushroom production, as a “get-rich-quick” scheme, as many elements militate against such operations. Skill, knowledge, and experience are vital factors in successful mushroom culture; and, although the U. S. mushroom market is rapidly expanding, as a result of rising American standards of living, this demand has resulted in increased production in this country and abroad. Fresh mushrooms are greatly in demand, but the major crop absorption is for canning. Eighty percent of the mushrooms sold in the U. S. in FY 1963-64 were imported from Taiwan, where the mushroom-growing industry was fostered in the early 1960's through grants and loans in local currency by the U. S. Agency for International Development. Cheap labor on Taiwan and favorable growing conditions have combined to make that country the largest supplier of mushrooms to the U. S. Thus, despite U. S. Tariff Commission findings that imports are not seriously injuring the domestic mushroom industry, the competition from imported mushrooms for canning is certainly an economic factor for prospective mushroom producers to consider before investing. - 30 -