AMES, Iowa – Iowa State University Extension and Outreach will host a three-hour class for anyone interested in being certified to sell morel mushrooms legally within the state of Iowa.
Workshops will be available on three consecutive Saturdays in April on the Iowa State campus. To legally sell morel mushrooms in Iowa, sellers must complete a certification workshop that covers identifying morels and false morels. People can be poisoned by eating mushrooms that are misidentified as morels. By the end of the workshops, participants will recognize true morels from false morels.
Morel certification lasts for three years. Iowans who have not certified for three or more years must recertify this year. Registration is open to out-of- state individuals, but those individuals should keep in mind that local certification may be available in their home state.
All three workshops will be held on the Iowa State campus in 210 Bessey Hall (2200 Osborn Drive, Ames, Iowa) from 1-4 p.m. on April 1, 8 and 15. Please register online. Registration cost is $50 per person.
Free parking is available near Bessey Hall in Lot 14 on the east side of Wallace Road. See the map with parking area marked or check the online campus map.
Each workshop session will include:
Pre-training identification test
Presentation on recognizing morels and false morels as well as other species of wild mushrooms
Examination of preserved morels and false morels
Post-training identification test (and re-testing as needed)
Everyone who completes the training will receive both a wall and wallet-sized certificate of completion.
Contact Lina Rodriguez Salamanca, plant pathology diagnostician with Iowa State University’s Plant and Insect Diagnostic Clinic, at 515-294- 0581 or pidc@iastate.edu with any questions about the training sessions.
