Alternative agriculture can be a bit of a gamble and many farmers who have experimented in forestry diversification have not always come out the other side smiling. However, if you are already planning to plant some trees or hedges this year, you might benefit from planting those which have been inoculated with black truffle spores.
Paul Thomas is a professor at Stirling University in the United Kingdom and is the director of truffle research and advisory company Mycorrhizal Systems Ltd. He has developed a system for creating productive truffle plantations in climates like our own. In fact, he has already helped two farmers (who wish to remain anonymous) establish truffle orchards here in Ireland.
“I started working in truffles a really long time ago, in 2004,” he says. “I originally wanted my own truffle farm, so I was developing truffle trees while doing a PhD. Subsequently, it kind of grew – so instead of just doing my own farm, I now work with landowners to suss out their orchards. Ireland is a really great place for truffles because rainfall is quite dependable compared to a lot of areas in Europe.”
What’s a truffle?
A truffle is a much-sought-after fungus; considered one of the most luxurious ingredients in the world. Wild truffles grow underground, among the roots of certain trees, all over Europe. The “summer” or “Burgundy” species is particularly well-suited for Irish, Scottish or Welsh climates. We often think of places like Spain, France and Italy when it comes to truffles, and a different species – called the Perigord – is mainly found there. However, with climate change, Mediterranean truffle production is in sharp decline.
Paul travels to their partner sites around the world (the UK, Ireland, the United States and South Africa, to name a few) where he works with farmers for soil tests and truffle consultations. Mycorrhizal Systems also has a distribution network for truffle farmers who are ready to harvest and sell.
“We mainly inoculate oak and hazel trees, because we have 40 years’ worth of production data on those,” he explains. “We can tell people - with reasonable confidence - the kind of yields and timelines they can expect. But a lot of the wild truffles in northern and central Europe are found with beech and hornbeam trees, so we’re also planting some of those, as well.
“This year, they’re trading for €1000/kg - which is much higher than normal. That’s because there’s hardly any production in Europe, whereas Ireland, Scotland and the western UK are still getting really good yields. [When this species] comes out of northern European climates; they are usually later harvests [autumn]. They are much richer - more aromatic and flavourful – and chefs prefer them.”
Most land-types will work
Paul tells Irish Country Living that he works with a range of farms and land-types. He says both conventional and organic systems will work, but soil health, the right pH levels and the presence of certain bacteria are extremely important.
“There are ‘helper bacteria’, which help truffles bind to the root of the tree,” he explains. “What we do is add some of this bacteria into sites which are deficient in it. We can work with a lot of [different] sites, because we can easily restrict which chemicals or additives are being applied and add in bacteria. We can actually regenerate a lot of quite poor soils.
“We create what are called ‘truffle trees’,” he continues. “We start with seeds, clean them up and then, under sterile conditions, we introduce the fungus to the root system. Once the root system is covered in the fungus, it becomes what we call symbiotic. Then, we plant those into the ground. Normally, we add limestone [to the soil] to create the right conditions for the truffle fungus. As long as it’s well managed, pretty much all commercial sites will produce. There is some variation in yield, but they will produce as long as we have the conditions right.”
Considerations
Before you pick up your laptop to bulk-order inoculated trees, there are a few things to consider:
1 They aren’t currently importing trees to Ireland, thanks to Brexit
This is set to change; however, with a recent relaxation to five plant varieties. “The legislation came into force after the [existing] Irish sites were established, but it looks like it will be sorted soon so we can move plants across the EU again,” Paul says “Otherwise, we are looking at moving some tree production to Ireland.”
2 You need to wait six years for truffles
This is how long it takes for a tree to produce truffles. You won’t be making any money during this time.
3 you need to initially invest up to €18,000
For this species, Paul and his team of researchers have found that when you plant trees densely (around 1600 trees per hectare), you get the best yield and shortest turnaround time. This means up-front planting costs.
4 You need to maintain the site
Inputs are low after you plant – you just need to manage weeds and top the surrounding vegetation twice a year. After a few years, the trees require light pruning to raise the canopy.
5 You need a dog
You won’t be finding these truffles on your own! Paul says he is amazed by the amount of landowners who have invested in truffle plantations, but haven’t invested in training a dog to hunt them.
6 dog?!
Paul says having a good truffle dog is one of the most important parts of being a truffle farmer. As the truffles are beneath the ground, dogs use their sense of smell to sniff them out for you. Otherwise, you’ll spend a lot of (wasted) time digging.
“A spaniel is great,” he says. “My colleague is here [as we speak] with her dog, Winnie, who’s a Labrador. We just got a poodle puppy here - they’re traditional truffle dogs. They’re highly intelligent and easy to train. You can use any breed, really. In America, one of our best dogs is a collie – she’s also a cadaver dog; they use her at crime scenes. She is absolutely brilliant.”
Benefits
Considering poor harvests in other countries and the culinary demand for truffles, Paul says their price is consistently on the increase – and, with only two current sites in Ireland, there is room for more. Truffle harvesting is largely non-invasive. The tree canopy provides plenty of opportunities for biodiversity to thrive and digging the truffles creates minimal damage. A good yield, according to Paul, is 60kg per hectare.
“If we’re achieving 60kg per hectare I would class that as a success. Some sites will produce a couple of hundred kilos a hectare but 60kg is considered good and that’s pretty achievable in Ireland.”
For more info, you can visit the Mycorrhizal Systems website: plantationsystems.com
Currently, a good haul of truffles can fetch up to €60,000 per hectare per harvest, though Paul says the average year has typically been half that amount
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