US Truffle Imports 1979 - 2008

I did some digging on the USDA web site and found that truffle imports are down dramatically over the last decade compared to previous years.  

One troubling sign that stands out in the data is that we are importing more Chinese truffles.  These inferior Chinese truffles (Tuber sinensis) are not to be confused with the aromatic tuber melanosporum.  The unfortunately thing is that the Chinese truffles look exactly like the Périgord black truffle but lacks the aroma and flavor.  Toss a few Périgord in with some Chinese truffles to punch the armoa and most people would never know the difference until they sat down and tasted it.  Why is this bad?  For a lot of reasons but let's just look at the economics of it for starters.  Melanosporum goes for about $1000/lb US, Sinensis about $7/lb. If a person has never had a truffle and their first experience is a Chinese one, they will come away confused as to why truffles are so expensive.  Another issue is that this truffle species is very aggressive and if the Chinese truffle spores were to get into a person's orchard, it would most likely wipe out their melanosporum.  This is currently a huge issue in Europe as the Chinese truffle is starting to pop up in well established Périgord truffle orchards in France.  

Tuber Sinensis

Tuber Melanosporum

2011 Annual NATGA (North American Truffle Growers Association) Meeting

    The wife and I just got back form the annual NATGA meeting, and boy did we learn a ton. We also learned that snow and ice are very bad for our southern friends as the weather had a devastating effect on the truffle yields this year. (Nearly half of last years!) It was really exciting to see all the new members joining our organization and hear of their tales of wanting to become truffle farmers. As always the food at dinner after the meeting was fabulous, and Shelton Vineyards provided ample adult beverages for us to enjoy.

    This year's meeting we were broke into smaller groups and were given a few tasks to complete as part of a networking exercise.  We all started out on our tasks as instructed but were unable to hold back our excitement  and had to take advantage of the opportunity to discuss truffles with other growers in our groups. I think we all had a look of disappointment when we were called back into the meeting room. We were having such a great time discussing what was working on everyone's farm and what wasn't, what kind of yields everyone was getting, things people wished they did differently before they put a single tree in the ground.  But alas, we had to break and go back into the meeting hall.

Our leaders decided that next year they will have to set aside some time for everyone to break into small groups and discuss farming.  It sounds silly, but I learned more in those 30 minutes than I did spending countless hours googling for an answer on whether or not to staple down your weed barrier.  (The answer: DON'T staple.)

We had a great time "IN" North Carolina - it was the trip "TO" North Carolina that was a real let down. An extra $100 for 2 bags of luggage both less to 20lb, a half-mile sprint through O'Hare and nearly missing our connecting flight in Chicago, rental car was booked in a city 90 miles away, spending an hour on the phone with Travelocity talking to someone in India that didn't speak English all that well to get the rental car thing straightened out, and of course there was the intimate moments I spent with a TSA agent getting molesting.

Next year............we're driving!