Truffles and Climate Change

A specially trained dog may have discovered the latest refugee affected by climate change: Truffles.A specially trained dog may have discovered the latest refugee affected by climate change: Truffles.

“Buffo” the truffle-hunting dog discovered his bounty while roaming the forests of southern Germany. That region is seeing milder winters and changing weather patterns, and isn’t known to grow Burgundy truffles — a subterranean fungal delicacy that can fetch $1,800 per pound. It, and other rare European varieties, typically grow in Mediterranean forests at least 100 miles south and west of Buffo’s find.

The discovery, described April 4 in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, will certainly interest truffle-hunters and gourmet chefs. But it may also hint at ecological instability.

“Fungi such as truffles help plants absorb water and nutrients. Without fungi, plants don’t work,” said fungal ecologist Lynne Boddy of Cardiff University, who wasn’t involved in the study. “We know climates are changing and that fungal habitats are shifting. What we’re not certain about are the effects.”

Symbiotic fungi, including truffles, soak up water and nutrients, and deliver them into the roots of plants. In exchange, fungi get sugars from the plants. Some varieties of truffles are prized for their taste, yet are difficult to find because they grow underground on tree roots. Pigs and Lagotto Romagnolo dogs, however, can smell oils secreted by truffles’ bulbous spore-spreading fruiting bodies.

More info about this artice in: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/04/climate-change-truffles/

NewPress: Jackson Family Wines turns to growing truffles in Sonoma, USA

Cain Calvo (left) and Louis Gonzalez put in rowsed with P of hazelnut saplings for Jackson Family Wines, which is planting 10 acres of hazelnut trees inoculated with Perigord truffle spores in Santa Rosa.

Perigord truffles: They’re called black gold because they’re one of the most expensive and luxurious ingredients in the world.

Historically foraged in the Perigord region of France and used in the finest restaurants in the world, the black truffle could soon be Sonoma County’s next big crop.

Farmers and vintners, who believe that Sonoma’s terroir and climate mirrors Perigord, are buying up land, ripping out vineyards and planting trees inoculated with the fungus, hoping to strike it rich – or at least grow some of the best-tasting truffles in the new world.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/04/30/BUKO1J4HHT.DTL#ixzz1Vmug4Yis

“Truffle Kerfuffle”. Documentary explaining the truffle industry in Australia.

Good afternoon everybody,

I just received this link from Maria Lidia Hance (NZ) that i would like to share with you. Is a segment of a documentary explaining the truffle industry in Australia. Hope you will enjoy it.

A copy of the segment can be downloaded from:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-08-07/truffle-kerfuffle/2828172

Best regards,

Ricardo

New Innovative Project to grow truffles on a larger scale in Chile

Andean Truffles is a new company created to produce black truffles on a larger scale in Chile through the establishment of new and modern truffle orchards in the VIII Region. The main goal of this project is to obtain higher volumes of truffles to export from Chile to the International Market. The company was recently created between AgroDesarrollo a Private Equity which is managed by Sembrador Venture Capital, Sergio Rosenberg Aratangy (a private investor), Agricola y Forestal Los Tainer and Ricardo Ramirez, Forestry and truffle specialist who has pioneered the Chilean truffle industry since he first became involved in 2000.

After rigorous research, the company has selected lands in the VIII-IX Region, which meet the special soil and climate conditions required for black truffle growing with the idea of ​​get established first plantations in 2012 and expects the first production of truffles between 2017-2018  Year on a basis of 100 Hectares.

Truffle Lands Selected