Iowa State University Extension and Outreach has worked in partnership with the Department of Inspection and Appeals to offer an emergency morel mushroom recertification training online, after canceling the certification trainings scheduled due to COVID-19.
Certification to legally sell morel mushrooms needs to be updated every three years, and trainers will be directly contacting those in need of recertification from 2017. Please check the email that was provided when registering for the 2017 class.
Be on the lookout for an email from pidc@iastate.edu and be sure to check junk folders in your inbox.
If your email has changed, please send a clear photo of the certificate as an attachment with your full name to: pidc@iastate.edu or text it to (515) 520-2441. If using the texting option, please include an email address. Your request will be cross-referenced with records, and all necessary details for the emergency online recertification will be sent to the email provided.
The recertification will include an oyster mushroom update, however the recertification class exam and certificates issued will only be for morel mushrooms.
The in-person training that was canceled also was certifying for the oyster mushrooms currently included in the rules:
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/iac/rule/10-23-2019.481.31.1.pdf
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/aco/arc/4923C.pdf
At this time, there is not an option to become certified for oyster mushrooms that were newly added to the rules this year. New certification must be done in person, which is impossible during this time of social distancing. Be on the look for updates on oyster mushrooms at https://www.ipm.iastate.edu/morel-mushroom-certification or subscribe to our newsletter.
Links to this article are strongly encouraged, and this article may be republished without further permission if published as written and if credit is given to the author, Yard and Garden, and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. If this article is to be used in any other manner, permission from the author is required. This article was originally published on March 27, 2020. The information contained within may not be the most current and accurate depending on when it is accessed.