Pennsylvania Mushroom Farmers Lead U.S. in Mushroom Production
During the 2024-2025 Agaricus mushroom volume of sales totaled 670 million pounds, up 2 percent from last season.
The largest majority of the white button mushrooms consumed in the United States come from Pennsylvania (PA) mushroom farms. Pennsylvania accounted for 69 percent of the total volume of sales, and second-ranked California contributed 11 percent. The value of the Agaricus crop was estimated at $1.00 billion dollars, down slightly from a year ago. Brown mushrooms, including Portabello and Crimini varieties,
accounted for 196 million pounds, up 8 percent from last season. Brown mushrooms accounted for 30 percent of the total Agaricus volume sold and 36 percent of the total Agaricus value.
United States fresh market sales of Agaricus mushrooms totaled 596 million pounds, up 6 percent from the previous season, while processed sales, at 58.1 million pounds, decreased 26 percent from the previous season. Growers reported that United States fresh market production made up 91 percent of total sales volume, while processed production represented the remaining 9 percent. Grower total filling intentions for the 2025-2026 crop are 111 million square feet, down 12 percent from the total fillings in the 2024-2025 season.
Specialty Mushrooms - Shiitake, Oyster, and all Other Exotics
Value of sales for commercially grown specialty mushrooms in 2024-2025 totaled $95.0 million, up 10 percent from the 2023-2024 season. A specialty grower is defined as having at least 200 natural wood logs in production or some commercial indoor growing area, and $200 or more in sales. The average price received by growers, at $5.83 per pound, was up $0.37 from the previous season's estimate.
Certified Organic Agaricus and Specialty Mushrooms
Growers produced 117 million pounds of mushrooms that were certified organic during the 2024-2025 growing season, 8 percent below 2023-2024. Forty-six percent of the total, or 54.1 million pounds, were sold as certified organic mushrooms. Agaricus mushrooms accounted for 80 percent of the mushrooms sold as certified organic, while all specialty mushrooms made up the remainder.
Today, many of the PA mushroom farms are owned and operated by local families, and in many cases are multigenerational farms passed down to sons and daughters, nephews and cousins in third, fourth, or even fifth generations.
"Southeastern Pennsylvania has the largest concentration of mushroom farms, which employ nearly 9,300 people and $313 million in compensation. The mushroom farming community contributes an estimated $1.2 billion per year to the local economy, including sales, farm employment, taxes, and value of service industries that support the farms," said Maria Gorgo-Simcox, Penn State Extension educator for the Horticulture team.
Mushrooms from the state were on display during the 2025 PA Farm Show in Harrisburg in January. Visitors were able to meet PA mushroom farmers, learn about the process of growing mushrooms, pick mushrooms, and more in the popular mushroom located in the Main hall.
