Looking at Mushrooms, Data, and Ag Tech
November 15, 2024 
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Before he co-founded Ellijay Mushrooms, a 171-acre mushroom farm in Georgia, Howard Berk’s business was about as small as you can get.
Howard Berk
Wanting to bring fresh food to his community in Atlanta, Berk started selling mushrooms at a local farmer’s market in 2010. His growing process was straightforward. He chopped down trees, cut them into 12-inch logs, and inoculated each log with mycelium.
It wasn’t until 2017 that he considered growing mushrooms on a larger scale. His current business partner, Megan Cai, approached him about selling “mushrooms for the masses” on a farm up in Ellijay, Georgia.
The duo established Ellijay Mushrooms one year later.
Growing Mushrooms for the Masses
While he still uses logs, Berk now grows mushrooms under cover. He cultivates shiitake mushrooms in 10 greenhouses and oyster mushrooms in two converted reefer trailers. To better control the environment in the trailers, he installed a door and an HVAC system. This is especially helpful when it comes to CO₂, which oyster mushrooms are prone to producing.
“The oysters puff off a lot of CO₂ which makes all the bugs love them,” said Berk. “We’re certified organic, so we don’t use any pest spray. But inside the reefer trailer, we can eliminate pests by bringing in the fresh air and exchanging the CO₂ out.”
Berk is currently on a grant with Kennesaw State University, and they provided him with a MycoLogic “smart container” for 18 months. He can now remotely monitor temperature, CO₂ levels, and humidity to optimize growing conditions for mushrooms inside the container. “I’d love to adapt that technology for our other growing areas,” he said.
Since mushrooms account for 57% of total food sales under protection, based on data from the latest USDA Ag Census, the technology in mushroom farms must be able to keep up with production.
Berk continues to grow mushrooms out of logs in his 171-acre farm. | Photo: Ellijay Mushrooms
Looking at Tech to Boost ROI and Yield
Like many growers in the CEA space, Berk prioritizes cost and affordability when investing in a new piece of ag tech. According to the 2024 Global CEA Census, 23.2% of growers viewed cost as the biggest factor hindering the implementation of new technology in their operation.
“We don’t have a giant budget, if at all,” Berk said. “It has to make sense dollars-wise. We have to show that, whatever [technology] we implement, we can actually get a return on it and start improving our growing.”
In the past year, Berk has recognized the importance of collecting data to predict yield instead of making an educated guess. With that data, he can invest in the right ag tech to improve the quality and quantity of his crops.
“One thing about farming is that you don’t have time to be on the computer,” he said. “It’s important to know what your yield is, and technology can make a huge difference. We’re trying to figure out how we can increase production without having a huge dollar input.”
Keeping Up With Production and Getting Positive Results
Another factor Berk considers before buying new tech is how long it will take to integrate into his operation. This posed a challenge for 15.2% of growers who took the 2024 Global CEA Census. Mushrooms don’t sleep, so his team has to harvest every day of the week. If only one person knows how to use a piece of technology, it could slow down operations dramatically. “We don’t want to be in a situation where one person or the people we buy from can control it,” he said.
To the same point, Berk doesn’t want to invest in ag tech that other farmers haven’t used successfully. Considering mushrooms’ rapid growth and harvesting windows, he can’t afford to waste time and money on technology that won’t give him positive results.
“We don’t want to waste time on a piece of equipment or technology that doesn’t work for other farmers,” he said. “We have to harvest every day of the week, and if we can implement something, we want to make sure it’s going to work.”
Testing New Tech
Ellijay Mushrooms is always willing to explore new technologies and be a “guinea pig” for companies looking to test their tech in a mushroom farm. In the past, they’ve worked with universities across the state of Georgia that have departments dedicated to CEA.
“We’ve worked with the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kennesaw State, and other universities with a controlled ag team,” Berk said. “We’re looking for new technology, and we’d love to be the guinea pig for anyone who has some cool ideas.”
For more information on Ellijay Mushrooms and to contact Berk about testing new tech in his facility, visit the company website.