Pulse levy may be rolled back

Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Pulse Growers is considering cutting its checkoff to 0.75 per cent from the current rate of one per cent. If approved by its members at its AGM next month, the service fee levied on sales of pulses would go into effect on Aug. 1 (the start of the next crop year). The one per […] Read more

Deferred cash tickets help farmers smooth their annual farm income by allowing them to defer a portion of commodity sales to be taxed in the following year.

Feds backpedal on plans to scrap cash ticket deferral system

The federal government has changed its tune on cash ticket deferrals

Reading Time: 4 minutes Dean Gallimore breathed a big sigh of relief when he learned that the federal government had scrapped its plans to eliminate the cash ticket deferral system. “This is a relief in a big way,” said the chartered accountant. “I was very concerned that they were going to scrap the system. Farmers could deal with that, […] Read more


Alberta Pulse website offers more market info

Alberta Pulse website offers more market info

Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Pulse Growers has revamped www.pulse.ab.ca to make it easier for pulse producers to find useful information about growing and marketing pulses. “When producers are looking for information, they need it fast and they need to be able to depend on it to be accurate,” said chair D’Arcy Hilgartner. “This website makes use of technological […] Read more

Photo: File

Alberta farm groups want provincial action on unharvested crops

A coalition of Alberta farm groups calling itself “Team Alberta” is meeting with the province’s agriculture minister and representatives from the Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) on Wednesday seeking immediate action regarding approximately one million unharvested acres still sitting in farmers’ fields. They are recommending that farmers in the hardest hit areas of Alberta be […] Read more


The ‘Curry in a Hurry’ team from the University of Alberta took top prize in this year’s Mission ImPULSEible competition. Left to right are Andrea Dacko, Aleksandra Tymczak, Philip Elson, and Jeffery Duong.

Curry-flavoured granola bar wins Mission ImPULSEible

What do a curry granola bar, chickpea pudding, 
and pulse cereal have in common?

Reading Time: 3 minutes A curry-flavoured granola bar was the grand prize winner in this year’s Mission ImPULSEible post-secondary student food development competition. “This was actually our backup plan,” said Andrea Dacko, a member of the winning team. “Our first plan didn’t work out. I guess it’s a good thing. We wanted to go back to the basics, while […] Read more

Blair Roth (centre) with Alberta Pulse Growers past chair Allison Ammeter and Richard Pepneck, chair of the advisory board for Zone 1, which nominated Roth for the Alberta Pulse Industry Innovator Award.

Blair Roth wins pulse innovator award

Reading Time: < 1 minute Blair Roth is the winner of the third annual Alberta Pulse Industry Innovator Award. While working at Alberta Agriculture in the 1980s, Roth ran field-scale demonstrations for early soybean, lupin, fababean, chickpea, bean, pea and lentil crops. He helped establish the Alberta Pulse Growers Association and its transition to the Alberta Pulse Growers Commission in […] Read more


 D’Arcy Hilgartner


Hilgartner new chair of Alberta Pulse Growers

Kevin Auch and Greg Sears re-elected as commission chairs as farm groups welcome new directors

Reading Time: 2 minutes D’Arcy Hilgartner is the new chair of the Alberta Pulse Growers. Hilgartner farms 8,000 acres near Camrose with wife Lori, his brother, and their families. Hilgartner has grown pulses for more than 25 years; participated in research plots and demonstration trials; and represented Alberta Pulse Growers at a variety of international events, including most recently […] Read more

Lentil acres in Alberta have more than doubled in 2016, thanks in part to better genetics, said provincial crop specialist Neil Whatley.

Pulses’ popularity points to bright future

The boom in pulse acres may just be getting started thanks 
to rising demand, better varieties, and strong profitability

Reading Time: 3 minutes Only one hand shot up when Neil Whatley asked a recent crop tour near Castor if anyone was growing lentils this year. Luckily, a more rigorous Statistics Canada survey tells the real story — there are a whole lot of hands growing lentils this year. “There’s close to six million acres on the Prairies this […] Read more


Dried legumes and cereals on a white background

UN international year to showcase pulses

Chair of Alberta Pulse Growers says event will boost competition and prompt more research and breeding

Reading Time: 2 minutes The United Nations International Year of Pulses is underway, and that’s good news for the province’s pulse producers, says the chair of Alberta Pulse Growers. “As IYP draws attention to big global issues like nutrition, food security, and environmental sustainability, this crop — which is a Canadian success story — is only going to get […] Read more

Benchmark offers pricing on feed pea value

Benchmark offers pricing on feed pea value

Feed Pea Benchmark evaluates feed ingredients to determine when feed peas are economically feasible in swine rations

Reading Time: < 1 minute The Alberta Pulse Growers and its Saskatchewan counterpart are relaunching the Feed Pea Benchmark with additional feed ingredient comparisons for Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. “This is a good tool for the marketplace and growers who are looking at a feed option for their field peas,” said Allison Ammeter, chair of the Alberta Pulse Growers. The […] Read more