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Gourmet Growers Family Farms Cooperative

CLIMATE – FALL  2024 – CONTINUING MUSHROOM WOES

Continuing mushroom woes – Recently the Monterey Mushroom company announced that they will be closing their Royal Oaks farm in Monterey County in December, 2024.  The Royal Oaks farm is the largest commercial mushroom growing facility in California reportedly producing as much as 600,000 pounds of mushroom each week.  The loss of this facility will put additional pressure on the mushroom supply in the western states. 

The Royal Oaks farm was originally a chicken ranch that was converted to mushroom production in the 1960s-1970s.  For decades the farm has been an important member of the California mushroom community both in its production capacity, and as a training ground for many employees who have moved on to other mushroom farms as managers and operators.

Many factors have contributed to the demise of Royal Oaks.  As Monterey Mushrooms stated “California’s increasing regulatory burden and high cost of doing business left the company with no other options for maintaining profitability.”  “This strategic move comes in response to significant challenges faced by the produce industry, including adverse weather, raw material and labor cost inflation at a time when consumers are looking for value in their fresh food purchases.”  The company also declared that the size and complexities of the Royal Oaks site made the facility less competitive.  “It is not viable to invest capital into the (Royal Oaks) farm’s aging infrastructure, compared to planned investment at other farms in the Monterey Mushrooms network,” (Emphasis added)

All mushroom farms in California have faced challenges brought on by the changing climate which has resulted in several years of consistently lower quality raw materials.  Years of draught and high temperatures have negatively impacted the quality and quantity of both wheat straw and cotton seed products that make up the bulk of mushroom planting materials.  Additionally, the legacy facility design of the Royal Oaks facility makes it impossible to integrate modern technology that could improve productivity.  Also, the antiquated facility requires about 50% more employees than modern farms producing similar volumes.  Royal Oaks – R.I.P.

CLIMATE - SUMMER 2024 - MUSHROOM ARMAGEDDON  

The North American mushroom industry has long depended on its regional inter-connectedness to help balance supply and demand issues.  As with many agricultural commodities, for mushrooms no one region supplies the entire continent.  Usually mushrooms can be shipped long distances, if necessary, to make up for regional production shortages.   Right now, however, there is no place to turn.  The entire North American mushroom industry is suffering from unprecedented climate caused shortages that we all hope will be of short duration.

Though commercial mushrooms are grown indoors, their growing medium is made of agricultural by-products that are subject to climate issues.  Then, the developing mushroom's indoor environment must be managed using sophisticate heating, ventilating and air-conditioning systems that rely on a lot of electrical components, and electricity generation is also subject to climate issues.  

Starting near my home, three medium sized mushroom farms in California have closed in the past year, and that has caused a shortage of production which has mostly been filled by imports from Canada.  Not in itself a climate caused issue, but a contributing factor in the shortage problem.

First noticed last week, there seems to be an issue with the straw that almost all mushroom farmers in California use which has resulted in very poor production numbers.  Most California farmers use red wheat straw to make the substrate (compost) on which the mushrooms grow.  The industry has adapted to using red wheat straw, and the spawn (seed) suppliers have developed strains that grow best on that straw.  The vast majority of red wheat is grown in a few counties in central California.  Beginning last week, California mushroom farmers noticed that the developing mycelia (mushroom roots) seemed to be growing well, but few mushrooms were popping up.  This week many farmers are experiencing disastrously small harvests.   Our harvest is down, and the other farmers with whom I have spoken tell me the same sad story - crop reductions of as much as 90% ! 

The common element that we are seeing is the wheat straw, and the suspected cause is climate related.  The actual cause has not yet been pinpointed, but the thinking is that as the wheat developed during the unusual late spring heat wave suffered from early heat stress which changed its nutrient make up.  Developing mycelium is the low energy phase of mushroom cultivation, but forming actual mushrooms requires a lot of energy from the substrate that just does not seem to be available from the current crop of wheat straw.   

The industry will figure out how to deal with this year's wheat crop, but in the mean time we all have many weeks of substrate in various stages of development.  Commercial mushroom farms plant a new crop every week, and from start to first picking runs about 9 - 12 weeks.  That means that currently there is two to three months of substrate in development that has been formulated with suspect straw.  Farmers will be able to make small adjustments to optimize harvests, but we all expect California production levels to be lower than usual for a long time.

Moving east, farms in Texas have been hit this year by a combination of drought, storms, and extreme heat which have contributed to reduced mushroom production.  Those farmers have been importing mushrooms from Mexico to supply their customers.  Now the Mexican farmers are battling draught and high temperatures with the result that they don't have enough mushrooms to satisfy demand.  Recently mushrooms from southern California have been sent to Texas, but now California production is down and can't meet that demand.

The recent hurricane that swept through the south eastern states damaged several farms reducing their output.

The extreme heat wave farther north damaged the electrical powers distribution system in Pennsylvania where 80% of US mushroom are grown.  The outages were widespread and several farms there lost many weeks of production as the result of the electrical power loss.

In Canada, drier and hotter than usual conditions have reduced mushroom production across the nation.

As the largest mushroom distributer in San Francisco told me this week "It's mushroom Armageddon!"  In his 40+ years in the business he has never seen this kind of continent wide crop decline for any commodity.  As he pointed out, all of the various problems seem to be related to climate change.  We will get through this, and let's hope that other crops are not similarly hit by this kind of climate change crisis.

Duncan Soldner                           Fidel Flores                             Barbara Spruce                           Lexa & Aubrey Selfridge

Crimini Mushrooms Growing          White Button Mushrooms              At the Farmers' Market                                 

WHO WE ARE

Gourmet Growers Family Farms Cooperative is a group of three families that have worked together in agriculture for many years.  The cooperative includes the families of the brothers Fernando and Fidel Flores, and Duncan Soldner.  Our products are marketed by family member name, e.g., Duncan’s Mushrooms.  

Starting in 2022, Lexa Selfridge has increased her involvement in our enterprise.  Lexa is the daughter of Barbara and Duncan,  You may have seen her at farmers' markets along with her little son Finnegan (Finn).  Lexa has taken over most of the product packing and logistics activities, and we welcome her increased involvement.

Further increasing her involvement in the business, starting in 2023 Lexa and her husband, Aubrey, will be seen at most of the Windsor Farmers' Market meetings on Sunday

WHERE WE ARE  -  WHERE WE SELL

The families live in Petaluma, Windsor and Geyserville in Sonoma County, California.  Each of the cooperative family members produce and process agricultural products at properties owned by them, and jointly sell those products to grocery stores, restaurants, produce brokers, and at Farm Markets.  We began selling at Certified Farmer’s Markets in 2010, and we now attend markets in Healdsburg, Windsor, Santa Rosa (at Luther Burbank and the Vets/Farmers Lane), Sebastopol, Guerneville, Cloverdale, and Petaluma. 

OUR SUSTAINABLE FARMING POLICY

Family Gourmet Farms embraces Sustainable Agricultural Practices (SAP) which include minimizing the use of new raw materials and reducing waste.  Our primary crops are Agaricus mushrooms grown on a substrate made from recycled agricultural by-products such as wheat straw, cottonseed hulls and meal, rice hulls, and gypsum from recycled wall boards.  Our exotic mushrooms are grown on ‘logs’ made from compressed wood chips left over from furniture making.  Our fruit and vegetable crops are grown in native soils enriched with our ‘spent’ mushroom substrate, and watered by drip irrigation.

OUR PEST MANAGEMENT

Our SAP pest management program involves no pesticides relying instead on prevention of infestation.  For example, our mushrooms are grown in enclosed, air-conditioned spaces.  The growing rooms are ‘positive pressured’ by blowing filtered air into the rooms which keeps out flying insects and the potential problems they might bring with them. 

We appreciate your support of our commitment to sustainable agricultural practices. 

Gourmet Growers – Healdsburg, CA.   95448 – (707) 695-4393 – duncansoldner@gmail.com

Google us at Duncan's GG Mushrooms

Follow us on Facebook  :  gourmet growers        and Instagram  :  gourmetgrowers

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CLIMATE - SUMMER 2024 - MUSHROOM'S ARMAGEDDON  

(DUPLICATE FROM ABOVE)

The North American mushroom industry has long depended on its regional inter-connectedness to help balance supply and demand issues.  As with many agricultural commodities, for mushrooms no  one region supplies the entire continent.  Usually mushrooms can be shipped long distances, if necessary, to make up for regional production shortages.   Right now, however, there is no place to turn.  The entire North American mushroom industry is suffering from an unprecedented climate caused shortage that we all hope will be of short duration.

Though mushroom are grown indoors, their growing medium is made of agricultural by-products that are subject to climate issues.  Then, the developing mushroom's indoor environment must be managed using sophisticate heating, ventilating and air-conditioning systems that rely on a lot of electrical components, and electricity generation is subject to climate issues.  

Starting near home, three medium sized mushroom farms in California have closed in the past year, and that has caused a shortage of production which has mostly been filled by imports from Canada.  Not in itself a climate caused issue, but a contributing factor in the shortage problem.

First noticed last week, there seems to be an issue with the straw that almost all mushroom farmers in California use  which has resulted in very poor production numbers.  Most California farmers use red wheat straw to make the substrate (compost) on which the mushrooms grow.  The industry has adapted to using red wheat straw, and the spawn (seed) suppliers have developed strains that grow best on that straw.  The vast majority of red wheat is grown in a few counties in central California.  Beginning last week, California mushroom farmers noticed that the developing mycelia (mushroom roots) seemed to be growing well, but few mushrooms were popping up.  This week many farmers are experiencing dissasterously small harvests.   Our harvest is down and the other farmers with whom I have spoken tell me the same sad story - crop reductions of as much as 90% ! 

The common element that we are seeing is the wheat straw, and the suspected cause is climate related.  The actual cause has not yet been pinpointed, but the thinking is that as the wheat developed during the unusually warm late spring suffered from early heat stress which changed its nutrient make up.  Growing mycelium is the low energy phase of mushroom cultivation, but forming actual mushrooms requires a lot of energy from the substrate that just does not seem to be available from the current crop of wheat straw.   

The industry will figure out how to deal with this year's wheat crop, but in the mean time we all have many weeks of substrate in various stages of development.  Commercial mushroom farms plant a new crop every week, and from start to first picking runs about 9 - 12 weeks.  That means that currently there is two to three months of substrate in development that has been formulated with suspect straw.  Farmers will be able to make small adjustments to optimize harvests, but we all expect California production levels to be lower than expected for a long time.

Moving east, farms in Texas have been hit this year by a combination of drought, flooding, and extreme heat which have contributed to reduced mushroom production.  Those farmers have been importing mushrooms from Mexico to supply their customers.  Now the Mexican farmers are battling draught and high temperatures with the result that they don't have enough mushrooms to satisfy demand.  Recently mushrooms from southern California have been sent to Texas, but now California production is down and can't meet that demand.

The recent hurricane that swept through the south eastern states damaged several farms reducing their output.

The extreme heatwave farther north damaged the electrical powers distribution system in south east Pennsylvania.  The damage was extensive in Chester County where 80% of US mushroom production takes place.  Several farms there lost many weeks of production as the result of the power outages.

In Canada drier and hotter than usual conditions have reduced mushroom production across the country.

As the largest mushroom distributer in San Francisco told me this week "It's mushroom Armageddon!"  In his 40+ years in the business he has never seen this kind of continent wide crop decline for any commodity, and, as he pointed out, all of the various problems seem to be climate change related.  We will get through this, and let's hope that other crops are not similarly hit by this kind of climate change crisis.

Duncan Soldner                           Fidel Flores                             Barbara Spruce                           Lexa & Aubrey Selfridge

SPRING 2024  

Thanks to you who have asked where you could find our products in restaurants and grocers.  

For all of you, here are the answers.   

GOURMET GROWERS MUSHROOMS

ARE FEATURED AT THESE RESTAURANTS & GROCERS 

CLOVERDALE      PLANK COFFEE                                  

GEYSERVILLE       CATELLI’S

DIAVOLA PIZZERIA

                      CORNER PROJECT 

HEALDSBURG      VALETTE HEALDSBURG                      

BRAVAS BAR DE TAPAS                                                       

THE MATHESON         

HEALDSBURG BAGEL & DREWISH DELI                                                  SPOON BAR :   In the H2Hotel    

PLANK COFFEE HEALDSBURG                                   

SHELTON’S NATURAL FOODS

AGAVE MEXICAN RESTAURANT

PizZando  

WILLI’S SEAFOOD AND RAW BAR            

WINDSOR PIZZALEAH

GRATA ITALIAN EATERY

BURTONZ BAKERY

CHARLIE’S BAR-B-QUE & CATERING

AS SEEN ON TV GUY'S GROCERY GAMES

SANTA ROSA       STARK’S STEAKHOUSE & SEAFOOD        

BIRD AND THE BOTTLE  

AUGIE'S FRENCH BISTRO   

MONTI’S ROTISSERIE & BAR                                                    

THE SPINSTER SISTERS

WILLI’S WINE BAR

La GARE

ROSSO PIZZERIA & WINE BAR                     

FRANCHETTI’S WOOD FIRE KITCHEN          

PETALUMA          SEARED STEAK & SEAFOOD         

SEBASTOPOL PSYCHIC PIE                     

GRATON               WILLOW WOOD MARKET CAFÉ

UNDERWOOD BAR & BISTRO

FARMERS MARKETS

       Santa Rosa (2)    Windsor  Healdsburg (2)      Petaluma      Sebastopol                                                  Cloverdale     Guerneville

FIND US ON THE WEB   :   Duncan’s GG Mushrooms

WHO ARE ALL OF THESE PEOPLE?

As our title implies, we operates as a family farm cooperative which means that our combined families work together to produce our mushrooms and bring them to you.

When you visit us at farmers' markets here is who you will run into:

At The Original Santa Rosa Farmers' Market (aka the Luther Burbank Market) on Saturdays you will mostly see Barbara and sometimes her spouse Duncan

At the Windsor Farmers' Market on Sundays you will usually see Barbara and Duncan' son-in-law Aubrey along with wife Alexa and the kids (especially Finn).  When they are otherwise occupied Duncan fills in for them.

At the Healdsburg Farmers' Market on Saturday you will find Duncan.

At the Healdsburg Farmers' Market on Tuesday you will find either Fidel or Duncan

At the Cloverdale Farmers' Market on Tuesday you will also find either Fidel or Duncan

At the Santa Rosa Community Farmers' Market on Farmers Lane both on Wednesday and Saturday you will find Fidel

At the Sebastopol Farmers' Market on Sunday you will find Fidel

At the Guerneville Farmers' Market on Thursdays you will find Fidel