Black truffle prices and volumes in Spain and France season 2019-20

In Spain we think the total harvest of black truffle (melanosporum) has been around 80-100 Tons, like previous season 2018-19. From the figures I see in France looks like volumes were pretty low and Italy produced some more than other seasons.

Figure from the last season in the Estación de Mora de Rubielos (Teruel) whole sale truffle market (means dirty truffle, all qualities mixed, not graded yet), the largest truffle market in Spain:

Blue line: whole sale minimum price Red line: whole sale maximum price  

I would like to thank the Asociación de Truficultores de Teruel to allow me to use this data.

Here a comparison with other truffle markets in two random weeks. Where it writes “al detalle” means “retail”:

If you want to compare with previous years, check this link:

https://trufflefarming.wordpress.com/2019/07/10/black-truffle-prices-and-volumes-in-spain-and-france-season-2018-19/

If you want to check data from other markets, here some links:

• Carpentras (France): http://www.carpentras.fr/pratique/foires-et-marches/marche-aux-truffes-dhiver.html

• Richerenches y Uzès (France): https://rnm.franceagrimer.fr/prix?TRUFFE&12MOIS
• Vic (Barcelona, Spain): http://www.llotjadevic.org/es/noticies/16/trufa (under payment)

We start the new black truffle season in Spain in 2 weeks. Even at the beginning of summer truffles were formed properly, in lots of areas season look pretty bad as we had a hot summer, plus there was a lack of rain specially at the end of summer and this fall. Looks like Italy and France is not gonna be better. So a typical year where prices should go up, but due to Covid and lack of demand probably they will be pretty low. Good luck everyone!

Cheers,

Marcos S. Morcillo

I´ve been out the last year…

Hi all there!

lots of growers have approached me the last months asking why I don´t post anymore and I realized I unattended my blog without even noticing.

The reason is that I took a sabbatical year to do a trip around the world with my family. That simple 😉 and it has been a total disconnection, even social networks, as I did not even take my mobile phone to this journey. It´s been a terrific experience I do recommend anyone.

I returned with all bateries charged, as a truffleholic missing my team, my trees, my farm and my truffles and looking forward new truffle adventures.

During this trip it was schedulled to be visiting several growers in new Zealand and lecture at the annual meeting there, but Covid cancelled most plans. Hope to be able to meet my kiwi friends/growers sooner than later.

Fortunately we got trapped in French Polinesia (I know, so hard….), where we have been the last half year and just returned home safely in Barcelona.

I hope all of you are OK during this pandemic. Luckely I have been living in free Covid areas until now. Hope we can manage with all projects we have overseas, although face to face visits will have to wait.

I love writing this blog. I have been doing that for so many years. Enjoyed sharing our experiences, research, receiving your feedback (we are a huge community: it is amazing that this blog receives almost 40.000 visists annually) but honestly the last years we are getting more and more busy and it is hard to get time to sit and write, plus other social networks (twitter…) are faster, immediate, so I´m not sure I will be able to take care of it as I used to.

Anyway, we´ll find ways to stay connected, plus I can´t help sharing about my passion.

Stay safe!

Marcos Morcillo

The License Agreement between Carolina Truffieres and Micofora has ended

We just want to make public that the collaboration agreement between Micofora and Carolina Truffieres has arrived to its end. From now on Carolina Truffieres will keep on producing and providing truffle trees under their own protocols, criteria and quality standards. We wish them all the best in the truffle world. See you truffling over there!

 

Black truffle prices and volumes in Spain and France season 2018-19

Last truffle season is Spain was pretty good in volumes, growers enjoyed although prices drop quite a bit from last year. So growers with irrigation harvested similar quantities but sold their product a much less price. If Spain harvested last year around 40Tons, this year total production should be around 80Tons. Mainly due to good summer rains, that made orchards without irrigation and wild truffieres to fruit.

First truffles in the season had quite a low quality (so prices) due to an excess of rain in the fall that promoted truffles to rot. In fact so many fields where muddy in mid november, so hunters could not even get into the orchards…Moreover, highly productive orchards with irrigation, so with good yields year after year are helping our main pest, the beatle Leiodes to expand, this combined with a mild winter made beatle damage to increase.

See the three figures comparing the last 3 seasons in the Estación de Mora de Rubielos (Teruel) whole sale truffle market (means dirty truffle, all qualities mixed, not graded yet), the largest one in Spain.

I would like to thank the Asociación de Truficultores de Teruel to allow me to use this data.

Blue line: whole sale minimum price

Red line: whole sale maximum price  

Green line: : retail average price 

In the following figure, prices paid in Spain for black truffle from 1955 until 2014:

See in the following figures comparing prices and volumes in different french and spanish markets for 2 different weeks in February and March 2019. Where it says “al detalle” means retail:

If you want to check data from other markets, here some links:

• Carpentras (France): http://www.carpentras.fr/pratique/foires-et-marches/marche-aux-truffes-dhiver.html
• Richerenches y Uzès (France): https://www.rnm.franceagrimer.fr/prix
• Vic (Barcelona, Spain): http://www.llotjadevic.org/es/noticies/16/trufa (under payment)

For the volumes shown in these links, looks like french production has been low again…

Let´s see how season goes down under. Good luck!

Cheers,

Marcos S. Morcillo

Preliminary results on Tuber borchii ecological studies

A few months ago we published a poster at the TAUESG Vísby conference about Tuber borchii ecology, comparing natural producing sites in Portugal, Spain and Hungary.

Here you have links to download the poster:

Preliminary results on Tuber borchii Vitt. ecological studies 2018

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331629598_Preliminary_results_on_Tuber_borchii_Vitt_ecological_studies

Tuber borchii Vitt., also known as bianchetto, is considered to be a valuable species among the white truffles. Plantations have been established in Italy, Portugal, Spain, and New-Zealand. The natural distribution T. borchii is reported to Europe from United Kingdom to Hungary, and from Poland to Sicily. It is considered common in Italy where the species has been widely cultivated and used as a useful organism in molecular studies.

Main host plants of the species include stone pine (Pinus pinea L.) and maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Aiton) but it is also frequent under broad-leaved trees, such as oaks (Quercus spp.), larch (Larix spp.), and beech (Fagus spp.). Bianchetto truffle prefers sandy, free draining, calcareous soils with a pH around 7.

The present investigation focuses on natural Tuber borchii habitats, and plantations, located in Hungary, Portugal, Spain, and New Zealand. The characterisation of soil properties and detailed description of habitats have being conducted in truffières of those countries, and the presence of truffle mycorrhizae is being measured by morphological/anatomical tools.

Previous results show a wide range of host plants in Europe, with P. pinea and Quercus suber L. the main species in Portugal; Pinus sylvestris L., Quercus ilex L., Quercus pubescens Willd., and Quercus coccifera L. in Spain; and Quercus cerris L. and Quercus robur L. in Hungary. Canopy coverage ranges from 10% to 35% in Portugal, 40-80% in Spain and 85-90% in Hungary. Standard techniques are being employed to assess soil chemistry and texture.

Cheers,

Marcos S. Morcillo

Coming Truffle Farming Conferences in the US

This february two conferences are organized in each coast of the US.

This coming weekend 2nd February the North American Truffle Growers Association makes its winter conference in Charlottesville (Virginia). I´ll be there as speaker to give two lectures about our latest research on adding truffle spores to the soil to boost fruitings. In fact I´m writing this post at the airport waiting my flight to Washington 😉

The second conference is organized will be the Idaho Truffle Farmers Weekend, February 22-24, 2019: idahotrufflefarmersweekend2019

This Associacion is member of the Western Truffle Growers Association. Will be held at the foothills above the City of Eagle, the heart of the Idaho truffle country which presently produces two varieties (T. melanosporum and T. borchii) and boasts three truffle farms with over 10,000 truffle trees planted.

 

Looking forward to meet friends and other american growers tonight.

Marcos S. Morcillo

How to reduce glyphosate for weed control on truffle farming?

Glyphosate is translocated from shoots to roots and later released into the rhizosphere and can be later found in the soil up to one year later. There are plenty of papers that study its effect on mycorrhizal fungi but almos nothing on truffle:

–  Glyphosate herbicide affects belowground interactions between earthworms and symbiotic mycorrhizal fungi in a model ecosystem

–  Weed management and irrigation are key treatments in emerging black truffle (Tuber melanosporum) cultivation.

-Chakravarty & Sidhu 2007 [ectomycorrhizalfungi]:Fungal growth was significantly(P = 0.05) reduced particularly at concentrations above 10 ppm.

-Laatikainen & Heinonen-Tanski 2002 [ectomycorrhizalfungi] maneb, glyphosateand terbuthylazin estimulated the growth of some mycorrhizal fungi……

-Pasaribuet al. 2013 [arbuscularmycorrhizalfungi] Glomus growth was unaffected by glyphosate treatments. P intakeincreased.

-Beyrleet al. 2011 [orchidmycorrhizas] Application of glyphosate at0.5 or 1.0 mMhadno effect on fungal growth

– repeated use of glyphosate selects against grasses in favour of dicotyledons, Sourzat(2002

If you have a garden should know how much effort is to keep it without weeds. So to create an brûlé, a “bull fight arena” with no weeds at all it is not free! truffle invests energy to do it and if we help it, truffle will enjoy. Moreover trees will grow better without competition. So we´ve seen like glyphosate and other herbicides had a good effect on truffle mycelium concentration, but we do not want truffles with herbicides on them, right?

Here some tips. One option for the first 3 years is to use a white fabric geo textile:

Trees are first planted, irrigation pipes with e.g. 2 drippers/tree of 4L/h lay over surface and fabric is placed over the trees so they lie down. After that with a cutter we take trees out over the fabric, so they look like the following image:

Once trees start producing, we will need to control weeds out but over brules as well. Offset implements are great for that task so we till over brules but do not drive over them! see this power harrow on a young orchard:

During summer and autumn we will need to control weeds every 4-8 weeks, so power harrows or vibrotillers do a good job just tilling 3-4cm deep. We´ll kill (thin) the top shallow truffles, but won´t disturb the deeper ones or the ones at the spanish wells…

Cheers,

Marcos S. Morcillo

 

how has 2018 black truffle season gone in the southern hemisphere?

 

This year, the countries of the Southern Hemisphere have had a black truffle season that in some cases has ended earlier and suddenly. Possibly due to a particularly wet autumn that may have caused many truffles to be harvested at the beginning of the season.

1. PRODUCTION OF BLACK TRUFFLE IN CHILE

From the Association of Truffle Growers of Chile (ATChile) they tell us that they are quite satisfied, with several cases where the first production is given to the third year. In relation to exports this year there have been shipments abroad regularly, with the truffle being very well received. Note shipments are small but regular volumes.

Some plantations, still young have tripled the productions with respect to the previous year. One of the objectives that they intend to work with is to improve fruitbody size. The plantations more to the coast (with more clay textures) harvest larger truffles and several between 400 and 600 grs.

Quercus ilex are the trees that have given the best results. In several of the audits we have done in the country, Quercus robur appears with high contamination and low productivity.
This year there has been a marked interest in introducing more growers to this crop and others to expand their orchards, probably due to the productive results of several truffieres, some of them around 45 kilos per hectare with regular start of exports,  and with a high demand that could not be satisfied. Also, given that several plantations began to produce, including one of 40 hectares, the association estimates that for the next two years there will be an important leap in the production of Chilean black truffles, easily surpassing the ton.

There are some 400 hectares planted. This year, at least in ATChile, there are new projects for more than 40 hectares. Around 65 growers.

The estimated production for this season would be around 500 kilos. The association expected higher production, but some management complications and periodic rains in the southern area seem to have affected.

From the association send us this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=rVzlm5RHTx4
I leave you a photograph of their president Javier Rozas, with some truffles from his plantation, with great regular shape:

2. PRODUCTION OF BLACK TRUFFLE IN ARGENTINA

In Argentina this industry is just taking off, with just about 58 kilograms for 2018, taking into account that there are 4 orchards with production and that the oldest ones are just 8 years old.

A single orchard is currently the main producer of the country contributing more than 60% of the total harvested in Argentina. Even with a young plantation, as their oldest trees are only 6 years old.

The truffle is consumed in the domestic market mainly since even the production volumes are low. On the other hand, it begins to be known in the country and create some domestic demand, thanks to the diffusion in TV media like this one:

https://youtu.be/tvuFF4tUCJQ?list=PLGTiwubeVR1ImZma0NXNqriEaf065sBa3

3. PRODUCTION OF BLACK TRUFFLE IN SOUTH AFRICA

in 2018 there are in the “Western Cape” region plantations with a total of 180 hectares that are young or just entering production.

In the areas of “Eastern Cape” and “Natal”, in mid-August and in the absence of the last weeks of the season, 40 kg of truffles of different qualities had been harvested.

Probably total crop for the whole country around 80 kilos of melano. Note some borchii orchards started to fruit as well on various trees including poplars and pecans…

 

4. PRODUCTION OF BLACK TRUFFLE IN AUSTRALIA

Australia’s production of Périgord Black Truffle is very much skewed towards Western Australia with over 90% of the exports originating within 30km radius from the town of Manjimup – all within the Southern Forests Region of Western Australia:

melanosporum production data for Australia,  as for many countries, is difficult to calculate with certainty. In Australia the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), a government department, collects information about exports according to a set of product codes.

Much of the east coast production is sold domestically and there is a strong agritourism industry as these truffieres are typically within 90 mins of large urban centres. This then also reflects in a higher average price per kilo in the east.

Australian Total Fresh Exports of T. melanosporum by weight was 8.5t and is 30% up on 2017 (ABS data)

Using this export data as a base Australia’s total production of saleable truffle as follows:

8.5t       exported fresh truffle from May to End of August 2018 – all grades

1.5t       best guess for local consumption as fresh truffle (low 1.2t to high 1.7t)

0.6t       frozen for sale as frozen truffle or use in gourmet truffle products

0.4t       other sales

By this calculation the total is 11t saleable truffle

At 2018 ATGA Conference in September in Medlow Bath, NSW, delegates from each state put forward their estimates of the amount of truffle sold based on their polling of members

9.50t        WA

1t        Victoria

1.20t        NSW includes Canberra

0.90t        Tasmania

12.20t       Australia

So the best guess for the 2018 Australian Truffle production is  11.4t to 12.9 t

 

All the best,

Marcos S. Morcillo

Bookings open for the new editions of the Barcelona Truffle Tour 2018/19

We just have new dates for the coming editions of the only 2 truffle growing seminars in english language we will organize in Barcelona:

10^th-14^th december 2018  and  11^th -15^th february 2019

This year we created a new full day “hands on” workshop on truffle spores & mycorrhizae. Here you will learn what kind of microscopes and magnifying lens you need to analyze truffle spores and roots and of course, how to use them.

The main topics will be:

Distinguish Tuber spores. So you can analyze your inoculum or truffles in your orchards and avoid low quality truffles as brumale or indicum.
Learn the morphology of the main Tuber species mycorrhizae.
Learn how to analyze the level of mycorrhization of a truffle seedling before planting it.
Learn the morphology of the main contaminant fungi…

Note group size is limited to 20 people & just 8 people for the microscope workshop.

And if you want to see what we do in these seminars, just get in http://barcelonatruffletour.com

See you in Barcelona!

Is it possible to multi crop chestnuts and truffles?

We already wrote in this blog a few years ago abut how we were hunting truffles on chestnuts trees, even on slightly acidic slate soil.

I was reviewing now a paper published almost a year ago about this topic:

Multi-cropping edible truffles and sweet chestnuts: production of high-quality Castanea sativa seedlings inoculated with Tuber aestivum, its ecotype T. uncinatum, T. brumale, and T. macrosporum

I´ve found particulary Tuber melanosporum, brumale and aestivum under chestnut in Catalonia.

C. sativa is the only native species of the genus in Europe with wide distribution throughout Southern Europe, showing its ability to adapt to a variety of environmental conditions. It is managed for timber as well as for fruit production. But its distribution has been reduced specially for disease issues.

In this study the authors produced well infected trees with aestivum, uncinatum ecotype, brumale and macrosporum, the last one reaching lower mycorrhization rates.

Chestnuts normally avoid limy soils, but in this study, despite the high concentration of calcium in the substrate, most of the inoculated plants did not show evident symptoms of nutritional deficiencies as reflected by photosystem activity. Moreover, brumale inoculation improved tree performance.

 

Besides the potential to grow chestnuts with truffles, the multi crop (same with hazel nuts) is something quite complicated due to the fertilization required and mainly harvesting the nuts, in the fall when most of these truffles are already formed in the soil, the soil is normally quite wet, so won´t tolerate compaction with heavy machinery, nor even people moving around. But worth exploring anyway!

Have a nice end of summer (and nice end of truffle season in the southern hemisphere 😉

Marcos S. Morcillo