The latest US mushroom statistics have recently been released by the Nationa Agricultural Statistics Service on its website.
This shows that in 2020-21, the mushroom sector’s production value was $1.06 billion, an 8% decrease from the previous year. The average price was $1.40 per pound, down 1 cent from the previous year. This translates to a price of about $3.1 per kilogram.
The volume of mushrooms produced was 365,000 tons (758 million pounds), down 7% from the previous year. Production value has also declined in previous years, and is now down nearly 10% compared to 2018.
The growing area and sales price for agaricus mushrooms (white and brown included) increased slightly, but the volume produced and total production value are trending downward. The industry produced 334,000 tons (737 million pounds) of agaricus last season, valued at $997 million, down 8% from a year ago. Of the agaricus mushroom 90% went to the fresh market, with the remainder being processed.
Brown mushrooms, including big hat portobello and crimini mushrooms, accounted for 26% of the agaricus mushrooms produced. The average selling price of brown mushroom is about 10% higher than that of white button mushroom. The quantity of brown mushrooms produced is increasing slightly year on year (by 1-2%).
Among exotic mushrooms, the quantity of shiitake production exceeded 3 400 tonnes and the quantity of oyster mushrooms was 3 275 tonnes. This represents a slight increase in shiitake production (2%), but a significant decrease (16.5%) in the oyster mushroom sector compared to the 2019-20 season. Overall, exotic mushroom production totaled $66.1 million, a 2% decrease.
US organic mushroom production last year was nearly 60,000 tons (131 million pounds), an increase of 3%. Agaricus was the 92% of the certified organic mushrooms.
The full study can be found on the National Agricultural Statistics Service website.
