Mana Mushrooms

A scientific article that plays into the technical side of our business model at the by-product level.

The biodegradation of wheat straw by Pleurotus ostreatus mushrooms and its use in cattle feeding

Of course, that whole bit about lignin digestion and methane emissions is a bit beyond the depth of the article, but it has a cute(?) picture of a cow! :-)

Treehugger

Plus, I love treehugger...

This site is a resource for determination of substrate components by chemical composition which may help mushroom cultivators, ruminant ranchers, and farmers with feed constituents better evaluate the relative values of their inputs. My hope is that re-thinking such relationship webs will add value for all constituents.

Of particular interest to me at this time were:

1) Peanut Hulls: 8 1.5 62
2) Brewer's Dried Grains 27 6 15
3) Brewer's Wet Grains 4 1 4
4) Corn 7 3 3
5) Grain Sorghum (Milo) 8 2.5 3
6) Wheat Bran 15 3 10

The numbers above (sorry their a bit mushed) represent Minimum Crude Protein, Minimum Crude Fat, and Minimum Crude Fiber, respectively.
1 is of interest because I developed a relationship with a producer of this byproduct in Massachussets, where I look forward to implementing if I can demonstrate success with the model.
2 and 3 of interest because of several relationships developed with brewers, ranging from local brewpubs and microbreweries in MA and CO, to regional breweries in Chicago, to Coors, based in CO.
4 is of interest because I understand, especially after seeing the documentary King Corn that it is the primary feed constituent in the United States
5 is of interest because I have been told it makes a great supplement for a sawdust substrate
6 is of interest because I currently use it as a substrate component, as recommended by Paul Stamets and others.

Office of TX State Chemist

The SCIZERINM site has great information, but can be difficult to find, so I have a few links to them, especially to the specific pages of interest in the endeavor of downstreaming byproducts of mushroom cultivation to cattle, or ruminants. So far as I understand from conversation with those involved with the project, the ruminants involved are wild buffalo. In 2006, my understanding was that the buffalo had not demonstrated much interest in the SMS as a feed, but that it was difficult to gauge their interest; the people running SCIZERINM are not and did not want to be in a position of interfering with nature, forcing the buffalo to eat the ration. From other information on the website, I understand that ruminants will take up to 18% SMS in their TMR, or "total mixed ration" (often consisting of corn silage, dried brewer's grains, and other agricultural byproducts.

SCIZERINM 2