In light of some recently published research, Golden Oyster has been making the rounds on media outlets in the last week or so. And not in the "any media is good media" type of way. Golden oyster is now largely considered to be an invasive mushroom species, outcompeting native varieties. We at Field & Forest have been producing golden oyster mushroom spawn and fruiting bodies for 30+ years, decades before golden entered the lime light. In light of recent research it is our desire to provide transparency on the history and upcoming decisions around this mushroom, as well as hopefully provide some peace of mind for our customers who have grown it through the years.
The Past and Present of Golden Oyster
Years back when the Golden Oyster started popping up on the East coast and then in the Midwest states, we worked with the US Forest Service and UW Madison team to determine that the invasive golden oyster they were collecting was not our strain through genetic sequencing. At the time, we felt reassured that the strain we offer was not a contributing factor to the problem. Since, with the publication of research by Aishwarya et al. that included new genetic work and investigating the invasive's impact on native fungi, we started asking questions again.
At this time, it is still our hope and belief that the variety we have been offering is not the "escaped" strain and may not be capable of transferring into the competitive natural environment. In the 30+ years that we have been growing it here at our research farm we have not seen any naturalized golden oysters. However, there is no way to be 100% positive as we cannot account for the drastically different growing conditions nation-wide. This spring, we started working with the team of researchers with the goal to determine the method of transmission of Golden Oyster, risk factors that lead to invasive potential of cultivated fungi, future best practices, and the role the mushroom cultivation industry should play going forward.
What is the Future of Golden Oyster?
We are in contact with another graduate team on the development and evaluation of a spore-less strain of Golden Oyster. This could potentially allow growers to still enjoy the beauty and benefits of Golden, but without risk of adding to the invasive problem. As of right now, we do not have any data that our strain is present in the wild, but are working quickly with the teams of researchers to determine this and ensure we prioritize stewardship and preservation of our lands.
As a preliminary step, we have suspended the sales of Golden oyster for outdoor production until we can gather more information on this particular mushroom. As a final note-we hope that there is a silver lining to this in that individuals will also take note of invasive species such as buckthorn, garlic mustard, oriental bittersweet, etc in the flora kingdom that are outcompeting native plants and that there is an equal push for staving off these such species.
