peas

Researchers want producers to plant more peas

Four-year project attempts to eliminate barriers to growing the crop

Reading Time: 3 minutes Peas are a powerhouse. Not only do they sport a low carbon footprint and contain a high amount of protein, they come with their own nitrogen. So why aren’t more producers planting them? The biggest reason is the risk of root rot, a disease of peas that can infect the soil for years. But what […] Read more


Kashika Sethi (l) and Rhea Thomas Thommana (r) were at Ag in Motion to represent food scientists Drs. Martin Reaney and Michael Nickerson and their 3D printer projects, including their work on printable protein-based materials, such as the pea-based “chicken leg” seen in the machine. (Becky Zimmer photo)

At Ag in Motion: 3D printer takes aim at food ingredients

Making foods both plant-based and printable the goal

With the development of 3D printing, the age of Star Trek replicators has arrived. For master’s student Rhea Thomas Thommana and PhD student Kashika Sethi, food replication is on the horizon as well. Thomas Thommana and Sethi were at Ag in Motion this week with a 3D printer designed to incorporate plant-based ingredients into food, […] Read more

chris theal

Good things come in threes as Alberta adds another pulse plant

New $225-million facility in Strathmore will be a major buyer of peas, venture's founder says

Reading Time: 3 minutes Another pulse processing facility is coming to Alberta, this time in the town of Strathmore. And the $225-million fractionation plant is going to need a lot of yellow peas from area producers — 40,000 tonnes annually, said Chris Theal, a Calgary oil patch veteran who founded Phyto Organix, and is the privately-held company’s CEO and […] Read more


A hemp plant in Alberta. (Jennifer Blair photo)

Regulations, versatility pull hemp in different directions in West

Crop 'still struggling with reaching its full potential'

MarketsFarm — Accounting for 60 per cent of Canada’s 1,100 cultivation licenses as of 2020, according to Health Canada, Western Canada is the country’s most important region when it comes to hemp production. But while there are more products on store shelves, more cultivars than ever before and high prices for the crop, demand for […] Read more

The opportunity for Alberta producers to profit from the plant-protein boom is partly tied to having local processors of crops such as field peas. Lovingly Made Ingredients is planning to add two more production lines at its Calgary facility by the end of the year and ramp up production of plant protein to more than 6,000 tonnes annually.

Calgary protein ingredient maker already set to expand

Lovingly Made Ingredients expansion means more sales for Alberta farmers growing peas and other crops

Reading Time: 4 minutes The plant-protein boom is starting to pay dividends for Alberta growers. Less than a year after opening its doors, the province’s biggest plant-protein processor is already eyeing an expansion of its Calgary facility. “We have a piece of technology in Europe that we’re looking to bring to Alberta this year, and that would give us […] Read more


(4loops/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Peas, lentils may see slight movement

MarketsFarm — As the calendar changed to 2022, there was not much movement on pulse markets — but they weren’t entirely static, according to a Saskatchewan-based broker. “Yellow and green peas have been moving (lately), but as far as lentils and others, no,” said Dale McManus, broker for Johnston’s Grain at Welwyn, Sask. He attributed […] Read more

Being able to have Alberta-grown yellow peas processed at the Lovingly Made Ingredients facility in Calgary is a big plus — and better yet, president Chris Shields says his company will be offering “attractive contracts” for growing a new high-protein variety developed by cutting-edge Israeli plant breeder Equinom.

THE PAYOFF: Plant protein revolution may soon put money in your pockets

Calgary division of British faux meat company to issue first contracts for new high-protein pea next year

Reading Time: 6 minutes It’s being hailed as a game changer — a new high-protein yellow pea variety tailor-made for the booming plant protein market. And producers in Alberta won’t have long to wait before they can get their hands on both the new variety and, possibly, premium prices. “I think it’s fantastic news to hear that there’s investment […] Read more