Record prices are generating huge interest in pulse crops, but you’re also going to like the yield increase you’ll see in the subsequent crop, says a provincial pulse expert.

You’ll love this year’s prices — and next year’s yield bump

Studies have found crops grown after pulses have some 
eye-popping yield increases and other benefits, too

Reading Time: 3 minutes Record-high prices have many producers taking a closer look at pulse crops — but the full benefit may not be seen until next year. “There are some real advantages to crops that follow pulses in the rotation,” said Mark Olson, unit head for pulse crops at Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. “It’s widely documented in research […] Read more

(Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Other Manitoba pulses may eat edible beans’ lunch

CNS Canada –– As insatiable demand for lentils, peas and other major pulses grows louder, so do expectations for more pulses to be planted in Manitoba. When it comes to edible beans, however, acreage is expected to go down slightly, not up. “We’re probably going to be around the 110,000-acre range — a bit down […] Read more


Red lentils. (PulseCanada.com)

Growers plan to plant pulses, but seeds scarce

CNS Canada — Farmers are eager to grow peas and lentils this year, but sourcing those seeds could prove difficult, according an industry group official. “We have heard that given the expected increase in area for both peas and lentils this year, the availability of good-quality seed could be a challenge,” said Carl Potts of […] Read more



Alberta producer Allison Ammeter (right) joined celebrity chef Michael Smith and culinary author Anita Stewart at the launch of the International Year of Pulses in Toronto earlier this month. Ammeter is the Canadian chair of the IYP as well as chair of Alberta Pulse Growers. The trio was photobombed by cookbook author Julie Van Rosendaal at the event, part of this year’s worldwide effort to promote pulse consumption.

Sky-high prices spark a boom in pulse production

Drought in India has sent prices to record highs, but the challenge for 
Alberta growers is finding yellow pea and red lentil seed

Reading Time: 3 minutes Expect to be hearing a lot more about pulses in 2016. And seeing a lot more of them, too — as western Canadian pulse acreage is set to soar this year. “Red lentils and yellow peas will be the leaders,” said Wes Reid, purchasing manager for WA Pulse Solutions, an Innisfail-based commodity buyer and seller. […] Read more

Here’s where to get help if you’re leaping into growing pulses

Here’s where to get help if you’re leaping into growing pulses

Reading Time: < 1 minute Thinking of growing pulses this year? Alberta Agriculture and Forestry has a number of fact sheets and other information at agriculture.alberta.ca. Some of the documents were done several years ago, and the information is not comprehensive. But the last document in the list — Varieties of Pulse Crops in Alberta — was published a year […] Read more


Dried legumes and cereals on a white background

PulsePod agronomic database updated

Reading Time: < 1 minute The past year was a trying one for both livestock and grains and oilseeds producers and that was also true for pulse producers, said D’Arcy Hilgartner, vice-chair of Alberta Pulse Growers. “Our industry is still on an uphill climb, but in general for most pulse producers, this being a challenging year, their pulses were probably […] Read more

Red lentils. (Pulse Canada photo)

India’s pulses under stress, need well-timed rain

CNS Canada –– India, the world’s largest producer of pulses, needs moisture before crops hit the reproductive cycle at the end of January, or existing losses will become amplified, a weather analyst says. The driest areas in India are important pulse-producing regions in northeastern Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, said Drew Lerner of World […] Read more


VIDEO: Cooking up good things with pulses

VIDEO: Cooking up good things with pulses

Canned chickpea water substitutes for egg whites in making macarons

Reading Time: < 1 minute While Canada grows copious amounts of pulses, most are exported. Chefs Geoffroy Dextraze and Chef Chris Kopp of Winnipeg’s Prairie Ink Restaurant and Bakery share their experiences developing new pulse recipes for the provincial launch of the International Year of Pulses. The event was put on by the Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers and attended by […] Read more

Green peas. (PulseCanada.com)

Limited farmer selling keeping pea prices steady

CNS Canada –– Prairie pea prices are steady, but farmers are holding out, according to one trader, as emerging new-crop bids grow in strength. “I think what’s moving prices is simply the expectation that (they) can’t go that much lower,” said David Newman of Victoria-area pulse trading and processing firm Commodious Trading. A lack of […] Read more