The late June downpour has had a flow on affect to the truffles of truffles of early July. There has still been increased amounts of rot in early July. The temperature has been steadily dropping and July only had a couple of wet days with dry days in between. This has improved good quality yields at producing farms.
Commercial farms, with good maintenance, production has picked up to expected results and have clearly surpassed previous years results at a number of farms.
Younger farms with more shallow truffles still have had more disappointing results most likely due to the fact they have a smaller number of truffles so the odds were not in their favour. Although we are not finding rot we haven’t been finding as much ripe truffles either at these younger farms.
An interesting thing to note this July, at a number of different farms, is that when I nicked some truffles to assess its interior colour they have been jet black with white veins however there has been little or no aroma. This is an unusual phenomenon and has occur at many different farms with varying climates this year. Therefore, it is not just a certain area where this has occurred. I have also had a number of people, from farms I don’t visit, call me about this wondering if they were the only ones. My recommendation is not to rely on the interior colour, instead wait for the aroma to develop. In past years, interior colour could be a good indicator of ripeness. I am finding this is not the case this year. My thoughts are that the fluctuating temperatures, a cold snap for a day then the next few days warmer, the truffle has been triggered to start ripening with the cold snap but then the warmer temperature has stalled the process leading to the interior colour to turn black however the aroma hasn’t developed fully yet. Unfortunately, some of these truffles which have no aroma then have gone rotten before ever developing their aroma. However this is only some truffles, majority of truffles have developed excellent aroma and are good quality.
Another interesting turn of events this year is that borchii (white truffle) which usually ripens in spring had started ripening and being found in late June and further increased in July. This truffle usually only ripens in mid-late August. Last year, first significant amounts of borchii were only harvested in mid-August. So, to have started finding ripe borchii in late June was very surprising however when you pair the fact that I was wearing a t-shirt all through June and first half of July it’s no surprise the borchii thought it was spring.
Image: Borchii thinking its spring due to the warmer weather in June and early July hence become ripe months earlier then usual.
Late July is when I started having to wear a jacket during hunts as apposed to early July when I was still hunting in a t-shirt (this is most unusual at this time of the year). Late July has also been drier so the amount of rot found has decreased as most of the rot caused by surface truffle and late June’s downpour has already been cleaned up.
First image: Still in a t-shirt in Mid July. Second image: Getting colder late July. A nice frost on the ground while searching.
By mid-July I started visiting young farms (3-4 years) for their first check for truffles. Young farms which had adequate weed/grass control, were able to irrigate sufficiently in summer and had well maintained trees had their first truffles found which is always a highlight of the season.
Image: Four of the young farms where we found first truffles at in July.
The truffles we are finding now, in mid to late July, are deeper (at more established farms) and more protected so have less rot and less bug damage. Since they have been deeper their aroma only reaches the soils surface when they are fully ripe so the quality of these deeper truffles is greater.
By mid July I had been finding more very ripe truffles with the distinctively intense aroma almost a petrol like smell. I have been reminding the farms I visit that now, mid-July to 1st week of August is the best time to save truffle for reinnoculation and especially these very ripe truffles. The inside of these truffles has less distinct white veins so you can also pick out these truffles based on their appearance as well.
All in all July's weather has proven to be kinder to the truffles of 2026 compared to June. The cold has finally triggered the truffles to develop nice aroma. However, some truffles in early July had a uneven ripening process producing a black interior with subtle aroma. These truffles just need more time in the ground and once it was mid July I hadn't seen anymore of these types of truffles.
Harvests quantities and quality has improved at most farms. In Victoria, there has been much more truffle media coverage this year so I am seeing much more interest in buying local truffles.
Total truffle Canine Truffle Hunting has found this season to the end of July: 282kg