Responsible and sustainable farming
It is Highveld Mushroom's philosophy to practice responsible and sustainable farming on all our farms. For many years we have invested in technology and processes that ensure that we produce mushrooms with as little impact on the environment as possible.
Here are five ways in which we care for our environment:
Here are five ways in which we care for our environment:
- We appreciate that water is our most precious resource, so the farm’s water is closely monitored, collected and then reused appropriately in order to use every drop as efficiently as possible.
- Since peat is in short supply in South Africa, we do not harvest from local wetlands, but rather import from the Northern Hemisphere where it is not only abundant, but actually being removed from development sites to make way for towns and cities. In addition, through our partnership with the University of Pretoria and South African Mushroom Farmers Association we are actively researching on finding a local alternative to peat. Although it is still early days, an alternative has now been patented and commercial trials are beginning, which if successful, will be a world first.
- Our raw materials used in the compost process are waste products from the wheat and chicken industry, and by using bunkers and tunnels to perform our aerobic compost processing, we ensure odor is eliminated.
- Equipment is replaced and serviced appropriately in order to bring down energy usage. Through regular monitoring we make sure our electricity usage reduces per kilo of mushrooms we produce over time.
- Our spent mushroom compost (waste) is pasteurized to ensure no mushroom diseases are spread to other parts of our farm and then supplied to landscapers and nurseries, who use this as weed free compost.