AMES, Iowa — Individuals who would like to be able to sell morel mushrooms legally within the state of Iowa can take a three-hour certification workshop in March or April.
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach is again offering the workshops this spring at several locations across the state. “The aim of the workshops is to help assure that misidentified mushrooms are not sold as morels. People can be poisoned by eating mushrooms that are misidentified as morels,” said plant pathology professor Mark Gleason, who is coordinating the workshops. The workshops fulfill a requirement for anyone wanting to legally sell morels in Iowa. The certification lasts for three years. Registration is open to out-of-state individuals. The workshop agenda includes: pre-training identification test; PowerPoint presentation on recognizing morels and false morels; examination of fresh and preserved morels and false morels; post-training identification test (and re-testing as needed); and presentation and signing of wall-size and wallet-size training certificates. Source: Iowa State University.