Reading Time: 3 minutes A new screening tool that will tell producers the risk of a root rot infection in their pulse crops could be available as early as next year. “At the moment, if producers are concerned about whether they have root rot in their field, they can take their soil to a commercial testing lab to determine […] Read more

Root rot risk analysis tool could come online by next year
There are few things that pulse producers can do to manage root rots in their fields — but a new risk assessment tool could help

Follow storage guidelines to protect your stored pulses
Combining pulses when they’re tough reduces damage to seeds, but they then need to be dried down
Reading Time: 4 minutes Pulse crops retain their quality and maximize their marketability when a few grain storage guidelines are followed. Downgrading of pulses can occur when cracked seed coats or split seeds are present in the sample, or if a significant amount of seeds are heated or have a musty odour. The Canadian Grain Commission’s dry seed moisture […] Read more

It’s a great time to be a pulse grower
Five Alberta farmers attending the world’s biggest pulse event get an up-close look at the red-hot market for pulses
Reading Time: 3 minutes Caroline Sekulic just got back from the biggest pulse convention in the world — and she has a message for Alberta farmers. “We have to stay competitive and we have to keep on it with our market access initiatives,” said the Peace Country farmer, who was one of five Alberta pulse growers at the conference […] Read more

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

Trade sees record Canadian canola acres as possibility
CNS Canada — Canadian farmers could be set to seed record-large canola acres in 2017, while wheat area is generally expected to be down on the year when Statistics Canada releases its first survey-based acreage estimates of the year on Friday. From a purely economic standpoint, “canola is historically the commodity that pays the bills,” […] Read more

Pulse sector still on tenterhooks
India’s insistence on fumigation of pulse imports throws up major barrier to Canadian pulse shipments
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canada’s pulse industry is still waiting to hear whether India will reverse a decision that could seriously hamper Prairie exports to its largest market. For more than a decade, India has required most pulse shipments be fumigated with methyl bromide in the country of origin. But Canada and some other countries were granted an exemption, […] Read more

Pulse crop sales to India dry up over pest-control plan
Winnipeg/Mumbai | Reuters –– Canadian exporters are slowing sales of peas and lentils to India, threatening $1.1 billion in annual trade of the food staples, over risk that New Delhi may reject shipments under its tougher approach to pest control. India requires shippers to fumigate crops with methyl bromide, an insect-killing gas, in the country […] Read more

Pulse crop strategy aims to broaden pulse demand
A new market development goal for Canada’s pulse crop industry hopes to create demand in use categories where pulses aren’t yet a major player. Pulse Canada’s board on Wednesday released a new target dubbed “25 by 2025,” under which the Canadian pulse crop grower/processor industry “will marshal its resources to create new demand in new […] Read more

Lentils, chickpeas can help reverse soil erosion trend, U.N. says
Rome | Thomson Reuters Foundation — Planting more lentils, chickpeas and other pulses will improve the health of the world’s soils that have reached critical levels, threatening to worsen hunger and poverty levels, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Monday. About a third of the world’s soils are degraded because of soil […] Read more

Fababeans get a reality check
Fabas were on a tear until this year, but experts expect the crop to have a solid, but modest, future in Alberta
Reading Time: 4 minutes With the sharp drop in Alberta fababean acres in 2016, has the clock struck midnight for last year’s Cinderella crop? Maybe, maybe not, says a provincial pulse expert. “I just can’t see them going away,” said Mark Olson, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry’s pulse crops unit head. “I don’t think the acres are going to go […] Read more