Mushrooms, like every other crop, have farms dedicated entirely to cultivate them or at least represent a big part of the crops several farms produce. In Langley, you can find many of these farms and they all face the same issues.
Mushroom Farms
The farms that have areas dedicated to growing and harvesting mushrooms have highly specialized labs and formulas to grow quality mushrooms. Unlike what we do at our homes when growing mushrooms, they have to get the spores from mushrooms themselves and inoculate them with grain.
These farms also pay great attention to the growing medium that they use, to encourage the production of a high-quality result. They call it the mushroom substrate and use two kinds. One is made up of the combination of several vegetable substances and the other is based on manure.
The other thing that sets these farms apart from other farms is their specialized mushroom houses, which is where the substrate containing the spawns are taken to. In these houses, where the temperature, humidity, and other conditions are monitored carefully, is where the mushrooms finally grow and are harvested by hand.
Tragedy and Issues
Many years ago, in 2008, there was a tragedy in a Langley mushroom farm that caused the deaths and permanent brain damage of several workers. The incident brought to light many of the issues that the mushroom farms in this area face and have triggered discussions on how to fix them.
As mushroom farms need to create the substrate to grow their crops, they need to prepare considerable amounts of compost. While compost is eco-friendly and sustainable, the farms need to have measurements in place to keep their workers safe from the toxic gasses that arise from the mixtures.
Mushroom farms are places filled with science and with delicate processes that need to be monitored every step of the way to stick to both quality and safety standards.