What was it all about?

This project was designed to help the mushroom industry address challenges in finding and retaining sufficient committed and capable staff to meet labour requirements.

As the industry expands, it is expected that labour and skills shortages will become more limiting. On top of that, there is no existing regular/ongoing mushroom-specific training available in the Australian industry above entry level.

The training delivered through this project helped provide skills, confidence and support to participants to help them perform effectively in their work at farm level. These courses helped provide industry with a growing pool of suitably trained people to support continued growth. Workshops were run in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.

A number of training modules were delivered, spanning a range of topics including:

• Disease recognition and spot treatment techniques
• Farm hygiene awareness training for staff involved in production of mushroom compost
• Safe and effective pesticide use.

Growing and composting courses were also delivered using experienced trainers from The Netherlands in both New South Wales and South Australia and three training webinars were made available online.

Training content improved participants’ problem solving and risk management skills through a better understanding of production basics. It also reduced risk of pesticide misuse and improved communication with pest and disease management services.

ACT NOW

Training resources, including webinars, remain available through the Australian Mushroom Growers Association.