That was one of the central messages from Michael Wunsch, a plant pathologist with North Dakota State University, speaking at CropConnect 2026 in Winnipeg in February.

WHY IT MATTERS: White mould was a top disease threat in soybean fields in 2025.

Fungicides do not protect future growth. They only protect the canopy that exists at the time of application.

“When you spray, you’re protecting the canopy that’s there,” Wunsch said. “All that new growth is unprotected.”

That biological reality has implications for fungicide timing, especially if more than one pass is planned.

Bloom stage isn’t the whole story

White mould develops when small, mushroom-like structures form beneath the canopy in moist soil. Wunsch said growers need five to seven days of sustained soil moisture in the top inch of soil as crops enter bloom to produce spores.

Infection occurs through senescing blossoms. Once a blossom dies and forms a small pin-shaped pod, the plant becomes susceptible.

“The per cent of plants with pin-shaped pods is the per cent of plants in a susceptible state,” he said.

Because of that, he uses the percentage of plants with initial pin pods as a guide for fungicide timing. However, timing isn’t just about bloom stage — growers also need to think through their season-long plan.

“When you spray should be determined by the number of applications you plan to make,” Wunsch said.

One pass: wait for more canopy

In black and pinto bean trials conducted under high disease pressure, Wunsch’s team tested different timings based on the percentage of plants with pin pods.

When only one fungicide application was made, early applications performed poorly. Spraying at first bloom or before significant pin pod development protected only a small portion of the canopy.

During early bloom, beans are growing rapidly. Within days of an application, plants can be significantly taller and wider. That new biomass is not protected.

If only one application is planned, Wunsch said growers should generally wait until a high percentage of plants have initial pin pods — often 60 to 100 per cent — before spraying, assuming conditions favour disease.

Applying too early sacrifices protection during the period of maximum susceptibility, when the canopy is full and moisture is trapped within it.

Two passes: move earlier

The logic shifts when a second application is planned.

With a two-pass program in dry beans, Wunsch found the first spray often performed best when applied at roughly 30 to 50 per cent pin pod and sometimes as low as 10 per cent under higher-risk situations.

The reason is that the second application protects the new growth that develops after the first spray.

“You don’t want to sacrifice those early infections,” he said.

In this case, the grower is no longer choosing between early and late protection. The second pass covers the expanding canopy. However, there is still a penalty for going too late.

“Applications must be made prior to pathogen infection,” Wunsch said, adding that once the pathogen has invaded the plant, fungicides cannot eradicate it.

Three passes under high pressure

In high-pressure pinto and kidney bean environments, particularly under sustained cool and wet conditions, Wunsch’s trials showed that three applications — often seven to 10 days apart — provided the most consistent control. Under those conditions, the first application was made earlier, at first bloom, before significant pin pod development.

Subsequent applications protected new growth, and shorter intervals improved consistency under elevated disease pressure. Even so, three passes did not eliminate the disease.

Soybeans follow the same rules

Although white mould in soybeans is more sporadic on the Prairies than in dry beans, Wunsch said the same principles apply. He recommended that a single application be made when 100 per cent of plants reach the R2 growth stage unless canopy closure occurs earlier. In that case, application should coincide with canopy closure.

As in dry beans, the decision depends on risk. If conditions do not favour white mould as the crop enters bloom, he advised waiting until they do.

Practical field scouting

Wunsch offered a simple method to assess pin pod development: walk into areas of the field where white mould risk is highest, examine 10 consecutive plants in a row and count how many have pin pods. Repeat that in at least 10 locations across the field.

That percentage provides a practical indicator of crop susceptibility and can guide timing decisions.

He also urged growers to pay attention to droplet size when applying fungicides, saying it can “make a world of difference” in efficacy.

However, even with precise timing, optimized droplet size and multiple applications under high pressure, white mould was never entirely suppressed in his trials, indicating the resilience of the pathogen under current management practices.

“White mould control isn’t that good,” said Wunsch.

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Daryl Domitruk, now a research project manager for MPSG, said pulse and soybean prospects in Manitoba have become “very interesting” due to the war in the Middle East as well as speculation over upcoming weather conditions. He added that it is difficult to determine with certainty how many acres will be planted for certain crops.

“What we’ve been seeing is that soybeans are likely to increase in Manitoba. Dry beans are likely to be down and peas are tougher (to determine). We’re expecting similar acreage (from last year) but that could change with the weather,” Domitruk said.

His assessment largely reflected that of Statistics Canada’s latest principal field crop report released earlier this month. Soybean acres in Manitoba were projected at 1.869 million acres this year, up 12.9 per cent from 2025-26. Edible bean acres were projected at 120,000, down 45.6 per cent, while dry pea acres are expected to decline by 40.5 per cent at 116,700.

For daily markets update, visit the Western Producer Markets Desk

Domitruk attributed the drops in dry bean and pea acres to the markets being well-supplied, which resulted in prices going down and seeded area falling.

With shipments of fertilizer and urea being held up due to the war in Iran, farmers may be inclined to grow soybeans and other crops with low fertilizer needs. Domitruk said there is already additional interest from growers.

“That is the only thing that may accelerate bean or soybean acres than what’s already being projected,” he added. “But we need to pay close attention to crop rotations in Manitoba.”

He added that the amount of snow received in central and southern Manitoba this winter could provide the moisture necessary for good growing conditions. However, pulse planting is still restricted to specific windows of time.

“That window only works if seeding for wheat and canola go according to plan,” Domitruk said.

“It’s really difficult when you have so many different factors in play this year between markets, world events, weather and prices for inputs. Weather-wise, we can only assume things will be OK. Of course, it’s not in our hands and we can just see what we get,” he added.

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Marlene Boersch of Mercantile Consulting Venture Inc. in Winnipeg said large carryouts and lower prices over the past year will likely mean fewer pulse acres this spring.

“Like for all commodities, prices are down quite a bit. So your return-per-acre calculation will change very significantly,” Boersch said. “On top of that, for both lentils and peas, you will have some very significant carryout.”

Seeded lentil acres were estimated at 4.138 million tonnes, down 5.5 per cent from last year. The total would be the least amount of acres in three years and the second-least since 2020. One reason for the decline would be the 2025-26 carryout of 1.695 million tonnes, more than three times larger than the previous year’s.

Dry pea acres were also set to be lower, dropping by 12.3 per cent at 3.078 million acres. The figure was also the lowest in three years and the second-lowest since 2012. Dry pea plantings will decline in all three Prairie provinces, most notably Saskatchewan where it will lose 16.6 per cent for a total of 1.479 million. The 2025-26 carryout for dry peas was 1.31 million tonnes, nearly triple from the previous year.

The amount of edible bean acres is projected to decline by 30.7 per cent at 295,000 acres, the smallest total since 2015 and one year after the biggest edible bean crop since 2020. Manitoba’s seeded area was estimated at 120,000 tonnes this year, down 44.7 per cent from 2025.

StatCan estimated faba beans acres this spring to total 55,900, 18.8 per cent lower than in 2025 and the fewest acres since 2016. It would also mark the fourth straight time faba bean acres in Canada declined year-by-year.

Chickpeas were the only pulse to buck the trend. Canadians are expected to use 6.3 per cent more land than last year to grow the crop at 575,000 acres. It would be the fifth straight yearly increase for chickpeas and its largest seeded area since 2001. This is despite 2026 ending stocks for chickpeas having more than quadrupled from the year before at 275,000 tonnes.

The planting survey was conducted from mid-December to mid-January. However, rising fertilizer prices tied to the escalating conflict in the Middle East could shift planting intentions, said Glacier FarmMedia analyst Bruce Burnett. He said the relatively lower input costs for pulse crops compared to other options could lead to more area going to peas and lentils this spring than earlier expectations.

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In Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s principal field crop estimates released last month, the projected dry bean carryout was 95,000 tonnes, compared to 40,000 the year before.

A grain marketer from southern Manitoba said he has seen pintos, black beans and navy beans have recently declined in price to the mid-30 cent per pound range. Meanwhile, kidney beans are in the low-60s.

Prairie Ag Hotwire reported a monthly drop of more than one cent and a yearly drop of more than 30 cents for navy and black beans at 27.5 and 26.5 cents delivered as of Feb. 10. Kidney beans saw the largest monthly increases at four cents for the dark variety and 7.2 cents for light, but yearly drops were down 22.8 and 9.5 cents, respectively, at 55.3 and 57 cents.

Solid pricing over the last five years resulted in additional acres for dry beans, said the marketer. However, this also resulted in additional stocks which eventually pressured prices.

“Last season, because the other commodities were less attractive, the edibles were in the 40s. That drew a large crop,” he said. “And then with all the precipitation in North Dakota, Mexico and Manitoba, they had decent crops and overproduction over the last two seasons.”

Nevertheless, demand remains strong for dry edible beans due to their relatively high protein content, but ending stocks will still be large. For 2026-27, AAFC estimated a carryout of 80,000 tonnes.

“Movement is strong, but there will still be a carryover. New crop is not that attractive in the mid-30s. But because edible beans are such a small crop, any weather trouble in North Dakota, Mexico, Michigan and Ontario, prices could spring back up.”

While 205,000 acres of edible beans were seeded in Manitoba last year, said the marketer, he expects between 130,000 to 140,000 acres this spring. AAFC projected 370,658 acres nationwide for 2026-27, down from 425,051 the previous year.

Nevertheless, the marketer said he thinks dry edible bean prices are at their low point and have plenty of upside in the coming months.

“It’s kind of the bottom of the market because we still have beans to move out of the province. I would think if we had a regular crop and there wasn’t any shortage, (these are the numbers) they would trade at,” he added.

Cranberry beans gained 5.8 cents over the past month, but lost 11.5 cents this year at 36 cents delivered. Great Northern beans dipped 0.3 cents over the past month while losing 23.3 cents this year at a price of 28.8 cents. Small red beans are at 47 cents delivered after a monthly increase of 2.3 cents and a yearly decrease of 23.5 cents.

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Peas

• Canada exported 155,841 tonnes of peas in November, which was down by 44 per cent from October. Crop year-to-date pea exports of just over one million tonnes compares with 1.266 million at the same point in 2024/25.
• Bangladesh was the largest destination for peas in November, but India remains the top customer for the year at 416,405 tonnes through four months.
• Yellow peas account for 87 per cent of the total pea exports.
• Crop year-to-date pea exports to China of 90,454 tonnes are down 73 per cent on the year, as Chinese tariffs limited movement earlier in the marketing year. Expectations are for exports to China to pick up in March when tariffs are lifted.

Lentils

• Canadian lentil exports in November of 184,070 tonnes were down 37 per cent from the previous month, with crop year-to-date exports of 775,370 tonnes down 6.6 per cent from the same point the previous year.
• The United Arab Emirates was the largest lentil destination in November, taking 41,636 tonnes, but India remains the top importer of Canadian lentils on the year at 232,112 tonnes through four months.

Chickpeas

• Canada exported 28,338 tonnes of chickpeas in November, up by about 10,000 tonnes from the previous month. Crop-year-to-date chickpea exports of 73,877 tonnes were 39 per cent above the previous year.
• The United States was the largest destination for chickpeas through four months, accounting for 21.5 per cent of the total. Pakistan, Turkey, Italy and Israel round out the top five.

Edible beans

• Canada has exported 79,778 tonnes of dry edible beans through November, with roughly half of that headed to the United States. Year-to-date 2025/26 edible bean exports are up 8.3 per cent from the same point the previous year.
• Edible bean exports in November of 26,356 tonnes were up 6.5 per cent from October.

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A pulse consumption per capita study from 2021, found Canada ranked 47th out of 144 countries, at 3,381 kilograms per capita, an alarming 30 per cent drop from the previous year. It’s been a continuous decline since it reached an all-time high in 2017 of 11,030 kg.

WHY IT MATTERS: Increasing domestic consumption of pulses at home in Canada helps with exporting pressures abroad when trade barriers pop up on the international stage.

Pulses are found to be more highly consumed in developing countries than in industrialized ones, accounting for 75 per cent of the average diet.

Looking to reverse these trends in domestic consumption, Pulse Canada had its 25 by 2025 strategic initiative to diversify the industry by directing 25 per cent of pulse production to new markets and end-use categories to encourage consumption abroad and domestically. Also, the Road to $25 Billion campaign by Protein Industry Canada looks to bolster ingredient manufacturing and food processing at home to make domestic consumption easier.

Reasons for not consuming pulses identified in both North American and European studies include:

• dislike of taste and/or texture,

• low knowledge of health value

• lack of knowledge around cooking method

• negative perceptions of time and effort in preparing and cooking

• potential for gastronomical issues

Pulse Canada did a deep dive into the production volumes of each pulse and have found dry beans, faba beans and chickpeas as the largest growth potential for domestic consumption. Direct-to-consumer promotions such as its Love Canadian Beans social media push have showcased its affordability in food security and their ability to be consumed in a variety of ways in meal and recipe types.

“To complement that, we recognize consumers do need to have an almost direct experience with food to encourage them to consume and make new dishes at home,” says Julianne Curran, vice president of Market Innovation for Pulse Canada.

“We’re leaning into opportunities with food-service operators here in Canada, where consumers may have an opportunity to try something when they’re dining out,” says Curran. “After a positive experience, then they would be more encouraged to perhaps buy a can of beans and make something at home. We do have a lot of natural interest from food service operators here in Canada, that are also looking at increasing their plant-based offerings (on their menu), recognizing affordability being a real big concern amongst their clients.”

The Canadian pulse industry is also making its way into educational institutions to sing the praises of pulses to Gen Z, where university and public-school aged students are putting a higher priority on plant-forward dishes along with the general public.

Alberta Pulse Growers unveiled this academic year, a partnership with School Sports Alberta in promoting its Pulse to Plate campaign in its over 400 schools, including easy-to-make delicious recipes for families on the go.

“The other thing we’ve been doing more of is leveraging some of the marketing messages that you can be highlighting about being nutritional benefits and continuing to educate the companies that are manufacturing bean products for retail sales, so that they can use a lot of that messaging on their labels and in their marketing as well,” says Curran, adding in higher fibre and protein intakes in a food security affordable way.

“There are various nutrition claims that you can make around beans. We’re wanting to ensure that companies know all the things they can say.”

For the food-manufacturing industry, Pulse Canada is promoting the increase of the domestic utilization of faba beans and chickpeas. Given the quality of the crop grown in Canada, it lends itself to value-added processing.

“Faba beans in particular do lend themselves really well to the same type of processing as we’re seeing for dry peas,” says Curran.

“So that’s fractionation processing, flour processing. We’re trying to promote to the food-manufacturing industry here in North America the value in terms of added nutrition and functionality that those ingredients can provide to food products.”

There has been some successful use of fava beans in animal feed, with markets also available in pet food as an end-use product.

Demand for chickpeas has traditionally been for humus, but the versatile pulse can be ground into a gluten-free flour, rich in protein and fibre, for baking, thickening or binding, or used as an egg substitute in vegan recipes.

“It’s got high uptake by consumers, and so we are working to promote chickpeas for those value-added processing streams that are really seeing growth here in North America. We’re doing that through a lot of projects to demonstrate the performance of Canadian chickpeas into some of those newer applications and market that to the food industry,” says Curran.

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Why it matters: U.S. pulses compete with Canadian crops on the international export market.

Peas

• · Dry edible pea production was estimated at 838,400 tonnes in the January report, which was down by nearly 100,000 tonnes from the December estimate but still up from the 772,400 tonnes grown in 2024.
• · Average U.S. pea yields were lowered to 1.95 tonnes per hectare from 2.03 T/ha in December, while harvested pea area was down six per cent from the previous month at 430,190 hectares.
• · Green peas are currently trading as high as US$9.60 per bushel (C$13.28) in North Dakota with yellow peas topping out at US$6.25 (C$8.65), according to Prairie Ag Hotwire data.

Lentils

• · Average U.S. lentil yields were raised to 1.25 T/ha, from 1.18 T/ha in December. However, production was revised lower due to a 10 per cent drop in harvested area.
• · Total U.S. lentil production for 2025 is now estimated at 478,860 tonnes. That compares with the December estimate of 502,720 tonnes and the year-ago level of 410,460 tonnes.

Chickpea

• · Chickpea production, at 310,440 tonnes, was down from the previous estimate of 337,020 tonnes, but up by 20 per cent from 2024.
• · Average U.S. chickpea yields of 1.47 T/ha compare with 1.29 T/ha in 2024.

Edible beans

• · U.S. farmers grew 1.218 million tonnes of edible beans in 2025, according to the USDA. That was down from 1.420 million tonnes in the previous year and the December estimate of 1.363 million tonnes.

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In Saskatchewan, the province’s weekly crop report showed the average field pea yield as of Oct. 6 was 42 bushels per acre. That would be well above StatCan’s September principal field crop estimates that forecast that forecast Saskatchewan pea yields at 35.5 bu./ac. and compares with 32.6 bu./ac. in 2024-25. Lentils, which were 99.1 per cent harvested, yielded 1,922 pounds per acre, said the province. StatCan reported 1,463 lbs./ac. for 2025-26, up from 1,285 the previous year. Chickpeas lagged behind all other crops at 69.2 per cent harvest completion and reported an average yield of 1,817 lbs./ac. StatCan reported an estimate of 1,342, slightly higher than the average of 1,304 in 2024-25.

Manitoba’s field pea harvest was also complete with the province reporting an average yield of 60 bu./ac. as of Oct. 5, with yields ranging from 30 to 75. StatCan reported the projected average yield at 49.4, compared to last year’s yield of 51.1 Dry beans, grown in the central and east regions, were 90 per cent harvested. Dennis Lange, the province’s pulse specialist, said on Oct. 7 many fields reported up to 2,000 lbs./ac. with some pinto beans reported at 2,500 lbs./ac.

Alberta’s field pea harvest was complete as of Oct. 7 and yields were larger than in previous years. The province reported an average yield of 46.8 bu./ac., 33 per cent above the five-year average. StatCan’s estimate was 40.2, compared to 35.4 last year. Quality was down with only nine per cent of the crop graded 1 Can. compared to 24 per last year. Lentils, grown in the south and central regions, were also 100 per cent harvested. StatCan’s estimated average yield was 1,878 lbs./ac., higher than the 1,254 reported last year. Chickpeas, of which Alberta’s harvest is near complete, had an estimated average yield of 1,781 lbs./ac., compared to 1,400 last year, said StatCan.

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Dennis Lange, based out of Altona, reported the complete field pea harvest having yields from 30 to 75 bushels per acre with an average of 55. Meanwhile, the dry bean harvest was 80 per cent complete with yields up to 2,000 pounds per acre, compared to the 1,800-pound average.

However, he added that this year’s bean harvest wasn’t without setbacks.

“There’s been a little of bit of frost damage, but mostly in the western side of the province (was) where we’ve seen some,” Lange said. “But overall, I think we’re looking at above-average yields (for dry beans) this year.”

He also said some pinto bean fields were reported to have yields at 2,500 lbs. per acre.

In September, Statistics Canada projected 192,300 harvested acres of dry peas and 191,500 acres of edible beans in Manitoba. In 2024-25, 188,300 acres of dry peas and 185,800 acres of edible beans were harvested. Dry pea production is expected to be down 1.2 per cent compared to last year at 258,479 tonnes, while that for edible beans would decline by 15.3 per cent at 154,478 tonnes.

While many field peas and dry beans were seeded later than usual this year, a warm summer and a warmer-than-normal start to fall allowed both crops to make up for lost time. However, heavy rainfall last week across much of Manitoba and a return to normal temperatures has caused some issues for the beans still in the ground.

“This week, with the rain that we had on (Oct. 4 and 5), that’s pretty much put a hold on harvest for a few days here,” Lange said.

The biggest concern this year for dry beans, he added, was the prevalence of white mold. One producer told Lange it was the worst he had seen in 10 years. Lange also said white mold was reported in soybean fields, which was unusual.

“We had a number of growers spraying twice,” he said. “White mold comes to play when there’s a cooler (and wetter growing) season to a degree. When you have dense canopies and you get moisture and a cooler season, you can see white mold develop.

“(Producers) did see some yield loss on the dry beans, but generally, yields were still pretty good.”

Crop quality, despite the disease- and weather-related pressures as well as the 10-day to two-week delay to seeding this year, was still very good for Manitoba pulses, said Lange.

“The soybean (harvest is) definitely later this year. Now, the harvest has pretty much caught up. A later start this year, but that also means good yields are coming off. That’s a good trade-off.”

Prairie Ag Hotwire reported delivered bids for green peas on Oct. 6 ranging from C$8 to C$10.25 per bushel, down C$1.75 from last month. Yellow peas ranged from C$6.25 to C$7.50/bu., down 15 cents. Dry bean prices in Manitoba were from 26 to 54.5 cents per pound, with monthly declines ranging from 2.8 cents for Navy (white) beans to 11.5 cents for black beans.

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Producers across Saskatchewan, and into neighbouring areas of Manitoba and Alberta, can access the site, input their location, and soil type, and find detailed trial results and variety information. The performance data will then help in making informed decisions about which pulse crops perform best in their specific geographic areas and growing environments. The enhanced platform builds on a previous tool, with several significant improvements:

Updated Pulse Varieties: The platform has a broad range of pulse varieties including lentils, peas, chickpeas, faba beans and dry beans.

Advanced Data Sets: Enhanced with detailed data sets that offer deeper insights into variety performance, including ratings for maturity, seed coat colour, protein content and disease resistance.

Weather Data Integration: Weather data is included to compare varietal performance under variable environmental conditions, helping producers understand how different varieties respond to climate patterns.

Superior User Experience: Completely redesigned interface ensures intuitive navigation and streamlined access to critical information. Compare all varieties available for a selected crop and region simultaneously.

Multi-Device Compatibility: Optimized for seamless performance across desktop computers, tablets, and smartphones, enabling farmers to access vital information anywhere, anytime.

Complete Feature Integration: All popular features from the previous version have been preserved and enhanced, ensuring continuity for existing users while providing expanded capabilities.

“We are excited to introduce this powerful new tool that will help pulse producers make more informed variety selection decisions,” said Winston van Staveren, SPG Board Chair in a news release. “The enhanced Pulse Variety Hub represents our continued commitment to supporting farmers with the most transparent and accessible agricultural information available.”

The platform serves as a resource for pulse crop producers seeking to optimize their variety selection based on specific growing conditions, regions, market requirements and production goals. The comprehensive database includes detailed information on agronomic characteristics, average yields, disease resistance profiles, maturity ratings and performance data across various growing environments.

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