In this podcast, Jenny (AHR) interviews Robert Tolson from Premier Mushrooms about the importance of measuring moisture content in compost. Robert provides first-hand insights into the small changes in technique that have helped their farm to improve yield and crop consistency.

Robert also discusses the various factors that can affect moisture in compost and explains how growers can refine their practices to suit their own farming systems. This includes the timing of moisture checks, the warning signs that levels are drifting too high, and the steps growers can take to recover stability.

This interview offers practical knowledge for producers aiming to grow more predictable, high-quality crops, while also opening the door to deeper thinking about how environmental factors can shape the growing cycle.

Podcast hosted by Jenny Ekman, AHR.

Robert Tolson is the owner of Premier Mushrooms and a longtime director at White Prince Mushrooms and Sylvan Australia. He brings decades of hands-on industry leadership to mushroom farming, shaping composting, cultivation, and distribution with deep industry knowledge.

This podcast is part of the Hort Innovation funded project MU21003: Mushroom industry communications programme. It was funded through the Mushroom levy fund and contributions from the Australian Government.

Link to the website: https://www.mushroomlink.com.au/

The music for this podcast is "Mushroom Boy" by Qurtis, it is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/?ref=openverse

In this episode, Dr Jenny Ekman (AHR) sits down with University of Sydney PhD candidate Sarah Faulina, to dig into the topic of fatty acids and the role they can play in improving compost efficiency.

The conversation explores her early-stage research into compost supplements, specifically fatty-acid–rich amendments like canola and flaxseed, and how they influence the microbial communities within compost. While her research will eventually extend to crop yield, it begins beneath the surface – investigating the mechanisms at play and how fatty acids influence bacterial and fungal populations.

With compost amendments often being costly, Sarah’s work into understanding why fatty acids are effective opens the door to more affordable and scalable ways of achieving the same benefits. Thanks to modern testing technologies, researchers can now identify microbial communities in far greater detail, revisiting questions that were previously limited to yield alone.

Curious about how microscopic processes could shape the future of mushroom production? Take a listen to this episode.

Podcast hosted by Dr Jenny Ekman, AHR.

Sarah Faulina is a PhD candidate from The University of Sydney. Her research is focused on understanding how fatty acids influence mushroom growth through the microbial dynamics of compost. Her work examines why fatty acid supplements increased yields in previous research, with the long-term goal of assessing whether these approaches could be viable for large-scale production. Outside the lab, Sarah loves exploring forests and observing wild mushrooms - now with the added joy of understanding what helps them grow.

This podcast is part of the Hort Innovation funded project MU21003: Mushroom industry communications programme. It was funded through the Mushroom levy fund and contributions from the Australian Government.

Link to the website: https://www.mushroomlink.com.au/

The music for this podcast is "Mushroom Boy" by Qurtis, it is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/?ref=openverse

Bacteriophages are the most abundant microscopic agents on Earth, yet much about them remains a mystery. In this episode, Dr Jenny Ekman (AHR) sits down with University of Sydney PhD candidate Rebecca Martin to discuss how these microscopic agents could be playing a surprising role in mushroom production.

The conversation covers what bacteriophages are, how they influence nutrient cycling in compost, and how understanding their behaviour could help Agaricus mycelium access nutrients more efficiently. Rebecca takes us inside her meticulous research, using advanced bioinformatics and DNA analysis to profile compost phages with remarkable precision.

Podcast hosted by Jenny Ekman, AHR.

Rebecca Martin: Rebecca is in the final year of her PhD at the University of Sydney, supervised by Michael Kertesz and Gary Muscatello. She previously completed her Bachelor of Science with honours at the University of Sydney, majoring in both microbiology and biology. Her PhD project perfectly combines two of her major academic interests, ecology and weird microorganisms.

This podcast is part of the Hort Innovation funded project MU21003: Mushroom industry communications programme. It was funded through the Mushroom levy fund and contributions from the Australian Government.

Link to the website: https://www.mushroomlink.com.au/

The music for this podcast is "Mushroom Boy" by Qurtis, it is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/?ref=openverse