The percentage of quality I mushrooms has a big influence on financial results. In practice in the Netherlands crops are often seen with a percentage of quality I mushrooms between 70 and 80% in three flushes. For Dutch standards this is clearly too low, drastically limiting the chance of survival.
Many factors could be the root cause. Important points may be the third flushes, the organisation of harvesting and compost quality.
So extra attention this time for how to organise a good harvest and adequate supervision of pickers. The knife cuts both ways. The percentage of quality I mushrooms goes up and in most cases the picking performance too.
A 3 to 10 % quality improvement and a 10 % improvement in the picking performance are possible depending on the current level. These percentages will show up very positively in the profits. Organisational aspects on a small farm are usually easy to manage, but on large farms this can be very complex – but with far reaching impact on any companys chances of future survival. Investing in organisation in not an unnecessary luxury. Having an external advisor cast an eye over your procedures could bring a wind of change blowing through your company.
Jos Hilkens, AdVisie ‘The mushroom cultivation advisors’
hilkens@mushroomconsulting.nl
