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Due to their rarity, truffles are recorded on FAOSTAT (Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations Statistics) with mushrooms. FAOSTAT has data from over 245 countries and territories from 1961 to currently, 2022. It is hard to accurately determine truffle production as these figures include mushrooms. It is also interesting to note that there are records of mushrooms being grown in Australia in 1933, but the FAOSTAT data was unavailable until 1973. I can only speculate that the volumes produced were insufficient for recording.

It is important to note that the measurements are in tonnes. The average weight of a medium-sized potato is between 150 and 250 grams. The average weight of a truffle is between 3 and 150 grams, and the average weight of a mushroom is around 20 grams. Potatoes with the heaviest weight will naturally have higher production figures.

Many other factors affect these results, such as diseases, extreme weather and new varieties, but we will discuss them in more detail as we unearth future facts.

Mushroom and truffle production has seen a steady increase. Truffles were not harvested in Australia until 1999 but have grown steadily since then. As our industry developed, mushroom production has also steadily increased. This makes it hard to establish how much of the rise in combined mushroom and truffle production after 1999 can be attributed to truffle production.

Potato production grew steadily in Australia until the late 1990s, when it tended to level out. Some of this levelling could be attributed to a drop in demand, crop loss due to extreme weather, and a general reduction in farming in Australia.