Dr. Clain Jones is Montana State University Extension’s soil fertility specialist. In this role he covers anything that has to do with fertilizer or nutrient cycling in both agriculture as well as home/garden systems. He started at MSU as a tenure track faculty member in 2006, and has ended up doing quite a bit of work with pulse crops over the years. He joins me today to talk about fertility in pulses, the importance of inoculation, nitrogen credits, soil pH, and the overall importance of pulse crops to soil health.

“Adding five pounds of sulfur per acre to lentils, what we found at least here in Bozeman, was that nitrogen fixation increased at a much faster rate than yield did. What that told us was that by applying sulfur, maybe we're not going to see a huge yield response, but we're going to contribute a lot more nitrogen both to that crop and to the next crop.” - Dr. Clain Jones

Dr. Jones stresses the importance of plant nutrition and pH when it comes to optimizing a pulse crop's ability to fix nitrogen. Limestone deposits in the soil can make pH values highly variable even within a field. This can make accurate soil testing a challenge. An acidic pH has a significant impact on rhizobia viability as they don’t tolerate low pH values very well. Along with pH, many micronutrients such as sulfur, potassium and phosphorus also need to be considered when assessing overall soil health and nitrogen fixation efficiency.

“We have low phosphorus because our high levels of calcium tie up that phosphorus making it less available to crops. Knowing that phosphorus is essential for nitrogen fixation, my gut feel is that phosphorus is probably the nutrient most limiting nitrogen fixation and probably pulse crop growth in our two state region.”  - Dr. Clain Jones

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Dr. Clain Jones, the Montana State University Extension’s soil fertility specialist
• Discover the impact of pH and micronutrients on a pulse crop’s ability to fix nitrogen
• Explore the recommended testing and values of soil nutrition to allow for optimal nitrogen fixation

Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast. 

Kim Sauressig is a fourth generation farmer in Central North Dakota where he grows a wide range of crops including corn, wheat, durum, barley, soybeans, lentils, chickpeas and pinto beans. He also raised cattle until a few years ago when they decided to focus exclusively on crops. When not farming, Kim chairs the North Dakota Dry Pea & Lentil Council and has a seat on the USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council where he serves as the chair of the research committee. Kim shares his journey into pulse crops, what roles they play in his overall rotations, the value of associations like the USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council, and why he believes more farmers should consider including pulse crops in their crop rotations. 

“So we started seeding pintos and we were putting a little bit of “N” down. My agronomist called me and he got our soil test back from the laboratory and he is like, just drop your fertilizer. He said, “You don't have to put anything down.” And I truthfully, honestly think that that's because the lentils from the two years previous had fixated it in there. We didn't need it anymore.” - Kim Sauressig

Kim highlights the many benefits of pulse crops that he has experienced including their nitrogen fixation capabilities and their efficiency with water use. Through his work on the North Dakota Dry Pea and Lentil Council and the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council he has expanded his personal network to include many agronomists and research scientists that have really helped him not only fine tune his operation but also support future pulse crop growers. He goes on to share the many advantages the councils offers producers by way of research and financial support.

“Your revenue protections and your crop insurances and stuff, that's kind of directly put together by the US Dry Pea and Lentil Council….They were a dog in the fight that helped get dollars to come back into the specialty crop side of things. I mean we're talking millions and millions of dollars that went back to producers that were growing pulse crops that were very, very beneficial.”  - Kim Sauressig

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Kim Sauressig, a fourth generation farmer in Central North Dakota, chair of the North Dakota Dry Pea & Lentil Council and chair of the research committee on the USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council
• Discover Kim’s experiences with pulse crops and the insights he has gained from participating in both the North Dakota Dry Pea and Lentil Council and the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council

Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast. 

Dr. Chris Graham is an associate professor at South Dakota State University. He’s also the manager of the West River Research Farm near Sturgis, South Dakota. At that facility they focus a lot on regenerative agriculture, including doing a lot of work with peas and other pulses to extend crop rotations in that semi-arid region in the western part of the state. Graham shares about pulse production in South Dakota, focusing mostly on field peas. He also shares some of the complexities of nitrogen fixation, including what it might look like to have farm-specific microbial inoculant mixes in the future. 

“When you look at the growth of wheat, generally the yield is set first and then the protein is made later in its life cycle. And so we often see peas, obviously they're harvested and they start to decay, and that slow decay releases nitrogen  later in the wheat growing season. And so we often see a protein bump with wheat following peas.” - Dr. Chris Graham

While there isn’t a lot of acreage in pulses in South Dakota yet, Graham calls field peas the “nickel slots” of the pulses. In other words, a great place to start incorporating them into a rotation with a low barrier to entry. He highlights that your soil nitrogen content will likely not increase but your input needs may decrease when pulses are used.

“It's still nitrogen that you didn't have to apply and it's also nitrogen that the plant did not necessarily take up from the soil. And so it's conserving some of that nitrogen that's being made available just on that baseline level.  ” - Dr. Chris Graham

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Dr. Chris Graham, an associate professor at South Dakota State University and the manager of the West River Research Farm near Sturgis, South Dakota
• Explore the potential use of pulse crops in rotations in South Dakota
• Discover the niche pulses can fill in rotation as a broadleaf crop capable of nitrogen fixation

Visit Dr. Graham’s webpage here.

Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Dr. Breanne Tidemann is a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada based in Lacombe, Alberta. As a weed scientist, her job is to explore new and novel ways to manage weeds. Her focus is to research applied management strategies, weed biology and ecology, and screening for herbicide resistance. In this episode, Tidemann discusses the work she has been leading in Canada on the effectiveness of weed seed destruction technology including the use of mills and shares that this approach can be a very helpful tool in the toolbox especially in pulses.

“By and large, on the vast majority of weed species that have been tested in Canada and the United States, we're seeing greater than 95% control of what goes into those mills…There's the odd one here or there that's a little bit lower, but when I say it's a little bit lower, we're typically still talking greater than 80% control.” - Dr. Breanne Tidemann

Tideman shares the concern that at the end of the season the remaining weeds have managed to survive everything the farmer has put them through. They are therefore the fittest weeds that are the most difficult to get rid of. She proposes that rather than spreading those weed seeds all over the field with a combine we need to focus on destroying them. This process may not solve any weed problems for the crop you're harvesting, but it does start the weed management for the next year early and can have real impacts on future production. 

“So there's six main methods of harvest weed seed control. Some of them are things we would consider using in North America, like the weed seed destruction technology.…it's basically trying to turn the combine from a weed seed spreader into a weed seed predator” - Dr. Breanne Tidemann

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Dr. Breanne Tidemann a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada based in Lacombe, Alberta
• Explore the value and purpose of research regarding harvest weed seed control especially as it relates to crops with limited herbicide options such as pulse crops
• Discover current methods and equipment that are effective for harvest weed seed control and are available in North America

Connect with Dr. Tidemann on Twitter @breannetidemann or visit her website here.

Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast. 

Farmer and Northern Pulse Growers Association president Sam Arnson and executive director Shannon Berndt join us to talk about their work at NPGA, the importance of bringing the industry together to fund research, marketing and education efforts, and how other pulse growers can get involved. They share what NPGA has accomplished and what the future holds for northern pulse growers in the region.

“This is an exciting time to be part of this industry because we are still a fairly small industry, but we're growing. We're seeing a lot of additional states coming on board with acreage and production that face some of the same challenges that North Dakota and Montana producers face. And so as a collective group of growers, I think it's important that y'all have a voice.” - Shannon Berndt

The Northern Pulse Growers Association is a nonprofit association representing dry pea, lentil, chickpea, lupin and fava bean growers from Montana and North Dakota. Shannon Berndt has been serving as the assocation's executive director since 2007. When not acting as president for NPGA Sam is found farming northwest of Williston, North Dakota.

“People are overall excited next year for pulses to be put into their rotation if their rotation allows it. And I mean by that is their crop rotation and or chemical herbicide usage if it's opened for pulses. I think a lot of acres are gonna go in next year.” - Sam Arnson

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet farmer and Northern Pulse Growers Association president Sam Arnson and executive director Shannon Berndt
• Explore the progress in development and collaboration between producers the organization has accomplished for pulse growers in the northern region
• Discover what future opportunities the NPGA feels pulse growers have available to them as the industry grows and expands

Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast. 

In this episode we’re looking at a new pulse crop: sweet white lupins. Dr. Mike Ostlie is the director of the Carrington Research Extension Center at North Dakota State University. In the early 2000s a private company that was developing lupin varieties had gone out of business and the germplasm was given to NDSU to work on varieties. Now they’re close to releasing new varieties and Ostlie joins us to share why this is exciting for growers and for the pulse crops industry in general. 

“It's actually really an exciting time to be in the lupin world right now because there's a lot of interest in it I think all around in people looking for some new food ingredients, for instance, on the buyer side. As well as some farmers that are interested in getting something a little bit different in their crop rotation.” - Dr. Mike Ostlie

While these varieties of sweet white lupins will be new to many US growers, there is also an initiative in Canada to develop and release blue lupins which have a lot of the same qualities. These qualities include being a strong nitrogen fixer, a phosphorous scavenger, and a high protein legume. Ostlie noted that there is some existing production of sweet lupin in Australia that mainly goes to the pet food and livestock feed industries there. 

“The lupins have pretty wide adaptability in the northern plains in the fact that they produce reasonable yield under those very large drought conditions. When they're provided water, the yield potential is quite high….We've seen yields get up to 60 to 70 bushels an acre with lupins, which again, is very competitive with a lot of crops in the area.” - Dr. Mike Ostlie

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Dr. Mike Ostlie shares the development and potential of white lupins where varieties are being developed at the Carrington Research Extension Center at NDSU
• Discover the yield potential and resilience of the Lupin plant that is also known for its ability to scavenge phosphorus and fix nitrogen
• Learn the unique characteristics and input needs for this up and coming pulse crop

Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast. 

Take our audience survey and let us know your feedback about the Growing Pulse Crop Podcast!

Whether you’re from Nebraska or elsewhere, this is a great episode about what’s possible for the future of pulse crops. We talk about peas and chickpeas, but we also get into other niche opportunities like mung beans, cowpeas and more. You’ll get a sense of the emerging pulse industry in Nebraska, but also what it takes for the development of pulse crops everywhere. We discuss genetics, agronomy, disease management and marketing strategy. We start with Steve Tucker. Steve farms near Venango, Nebraska in the southwest part of the state. He has built his operation on the principle of diversity and grows up to 14 different crops.

“We can grow mung beans, I mean, there's different...aspects of these different things that we can do. What does the market need? And so I just had a conversation with a company that's looking for lupins. I don't know if you've ever heard of lupins before and so there are more various different kinds of pulse crops that who knows what else is out there and what people are looking for to utilize in food products.” - Steve Tucker

When plant pathologist Dr. Bob Harveson came to the University of Nebraska in 1999, chickpeas were really on the rise in the state. Sometime in the early 2000’s ascochyta really started to affect a lot of fields and there were no fungicides labeled for the disease for treatment. Since then he said fungicide options have improved over time as have genetics. Unfortunately, many of those same growers who experienced the devastating losses from ascochyta are very hesitant to plant chickpeas or even other pulse crops again. Despite these frustrations, Bob remains optimistic for the future of chickpeas and other pulses in the state. 

“I have a strong diagnostic background. So whenever something like this pops up, I try to determine what the problem is, how well it's distributed, you know, those sorts of things. Before you can start developing control measures, you gotta know what you've got in order to really make the right choice for that.” - Dr. Bob Harveson

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Steve Tucker who farms near Venango, Nebraska and explore the diverse crop varieties he plants on his operation and his motivation behind their selection
• Also meet plant pathologist Dr. Bob Harveson from the University of Nebraska and explore his involvement in pulse crop production and what he sees as the future of the industry
• For more information on ascochyta specifically, you can refer back to some of the previous episodes we’ve done on the topic.
• Coordinated Research Efforts to Fight Pulse Pathogens with Dr. Jenny Davidson in season two
• Canadian Pulses and Foliar Disease Management in season two
• Disease Management in Pulses with Dr. Michael Wunsch in season one

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Take our audience survey and let us know your feedback about the Growing Pulse Crop Podcast!

Terry Angvick farms in Sheridan County, Montana which is in the extreme Northeastern corner of the state. He was born, raised there and came back after earning a plant and soil science degree from Montana State University. In his first career, he spent 31 years as the Sheridan County Extension Agent, a position he retired from in 2010. Today he farms mostly durum and dry peas alongside his two older brothers and his son. Terry shares about the important role pulse crops play in rotations in his arid part of the country, some of his management practices that he’s adopted over the past 20 years of growing pulses, and some harvest and post-harvest considerations. 

“I think the more residue out there, it prevents erosion, but it also creates a little microclimate, a little environment, for them to grow up into. I prefer a furrow drill…because I think it also allows that little microclimate when you grow up on the stubble. These varieties have tendrils that tie them together, and so that helps to hold them upright as well. In my mind, the more stubble the better.” - Terry Angvick

As an extension agent Terry found himself “searching for something that would justify the economics of farming.” This led him to encourage the planting of previously fallow fields and pursuing different types of crop rotations such as pulse crops.

“When you produce a durum crop following a pulse crop, you almost always have increased yield and quality as opposed to continuous wheat. For example, better protein, better color. Durum has HVAC, which is a hard vitreous amber color, which is a nice yellow color. It's almost always better. So from those standpoints, I guess the pulse crops have really fitted very well and the markets have followed it as well.” - Terry Angvick

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Terry Angvick from Sheridan County, Montana who farms durum and dry peas alongside his two older brothers and son.
• Explore the new practices Terry has started to compliment the pulse crops he has added to his rotation 

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Take our audience survey and let us know your feedback about the Growing Pulse Crop Podcast!

Dr. Steve Van Vleet spent about 18 years as a regional extension specialist for Washington State University, and today is a research agronomist with The McGregor Company. For most of his career, pulses have been an important part of his work, and he joins us to talk about his excitement for the potential of winter peas. We’re not talking about Austrian Winter Peas, which are feed grade peas that are smaller in size and darker in color. We’re talking about food grade winter peas, which have been available for several years in certain growing areas. Steve says the differences are larger size of at least 17 grams, a clear seed coat, and a green or yellow cotyledon. 

“Multiple years, my average yield of my winter peas was 6,000 pounds. That's between all the varieties. Spring pea will range from 2,500 pounds up to 4,500 pounds. But I can get 7,000 or 7,500 pounds off some of the different winter pea varieties. That's the part that makes me super excited..” - Dr. Steve Van Vleet

Steve talks about why he believes this crop is a great option for a lot more growers than are using them currently and some considerations for growing winter peas including seeding depths and timing and pest and disease management. The limiting factor he sees playing a big role in this variety’s success is the access producers have to markets.

“Not are you only helping the soil, helping another crop that you're producing, which makes it better, makes it healthier. But what are you doing when it comes to human health?... If we could market this and people would become educated and say, this is one of the most healthy crops that we can produce and improves human health, soil health, crop health, other crop health. Not just as a rotational crop, but this could be a major crop. That's where I see opportunity.” - Dr. Steve Van Vleet

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Dr. Steve Van Vleet a former regional extension specialist for Washington State University and current research agronomist with The McGregor Company. 
• Explore the benefits of the winter pea variety and the potential it offers producers
• Read more about  “Pea Weevil Management in Winter Peas” in this Washington State University publication

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Eric Bartsch is the division head for global food ingredients at AGT Foods based in Bismarck, North Dakota. He’s been with the company for 16 years and through that time they have grown from just a couple factories to now over 45 facilities and $2B in sales. Processing peas, lentils, chickpeas, fava beans and dry edible beans has been their primary focus since they were founded in 2002. While they have ventured into some grain-based products since that time, they still remain focused and bullish on the future of pulse crops.

“There's a lot of things that we've had to establish. Protein checking in peas was non-existent 20 years ago. And now it's where we're checking protein on every load to be able to supply some of the high end markets that we are today. You know a lot of major investments in protein manufacturing plants, in processing, in food manufacturing plants that are incorporating pulses is really at an all time high and continues to grow.” - Eric Bartsch

Eric discusses how much has changed in pulses to make them more attractive to a wider variety of consumers who want tasty and nutritious foods. This has had big impacts on what buyers are looking for from these pulse crops in terms of flavor and functionality. He talks about how that information gets passed from the consumer to the producer and back, and the role AGT Foods plays in facilitating that connection. He also talks about some of the opportunities ahead for the industry, and why he is more optimistic than ever about the market potential for these crops. 

“That's really one of the initiatives we took when we built our Minot plant, is how do we transform pulses into ingredients that can be incorporated into everyday food. So now you look at the market and there's all kinds of gluten-free pasta made from lentils, chickpeas, and peas. They’ve become mainstream where it's become a very large market…So there's many ways to where we've taken pulses, transformed them into an ingredient and incorporated them into everyday foods that consumers are familiar with” - Eric Bartsch

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Eric Bartsch, the division head for global food ingredients at AGT Foods based in Bismarck, North Dakota
• Explore the future of the pulse crop industry from the perspective of a pulse crop processor

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

At the time of this interview Dr. Abbey Wick was the associate professor and extension soil health specialist at North Dakota State University. She has since gone on to a new role after nearly 12 years at NDSU. She is now the Global Soil Health Education Program Lead at Syngenta. We talk about what is motivating more farmers to want to try new practices on their farms to improve their soil health, some of the barriers to adopting these practices, and the support and resources available for anyone looking to learn more. We also discuss a new approach that food companies are getting involved with to spread the word about soil health through certified crop advisors, which is called the Trusted Advisor Partnership.

“I do think that people need to be aware of how they're going to keep that residue on the surface and probably it's with the crops they are growing in between those pulse crops and rotation. They could build up some of the residue. But yeah, it's exciting. I think there's a ton of potential with pulse crops, and fortunately we can grow them here in the northern plains. So I think we're in a great position here to do some really cool things with soil health and pulse.” - Dr. Abbey Wick

Wick has seen both soil erosion and salinity issues be big motivators for producers to turn to new soil health practices. Using a perennial and keeping residue on the surface has become much more common place for producers in the North Dakota area to combat these issues. She goes on to share that a strong community of support and collaboration has developed around these soil health practices including the Trusted Advisor Partnership. 

“There's a community around this that I think growers want to be part of. And to have that support not only from the university or from crop advisors who are interested in this or from conservation districts or NRCS groups. But they want to be part of that community because they want to be creative and they want to be thinking through the problems and solving problems on their farm and now they have people to do that with. And so I think that's been a huge motivator for soil health.” - Dr Abbey Wick

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Join Dr. Abbey Wick, former associate professor and extension soil health specialist at North Dakota State University and current Global Soil Health Education Program Lead at Syngenta
• Explore the evolution of soil health practices in North Dakota and the role pulse crops can play
• Resources for Soil Health Learning and Practices:
• NDSU Soil Health Website
• NRCS Website
• Soil Conservation Districts
• Midwest Cover Crops Council Website
• North Central Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education
• Soil Sense Podcast

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Dr. Drew Lyon is a Professor and the Endowed Chair of Small Grains Extension and Research for Weed Science at Washington State University in Pullman. Prior to moving to Washington in 2012, he spent 22 years as a Dryland Cropping Systems Specialist at the University of Nebraska at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center in Scottsbluff. His endowment is from the WA Grain Commission, so he spends a lot of his time with wheat growers, but most of them also include pulses in their rotations. Our discussion mostly focuses on integrated weed management of chickpeas, from cultural practices to herbicides to biologicals. 

“We do have some effective herbicides out there. In this part of the world nature doesn't always provide us with the moisture at the right time to get those products activated and going, that increases our need to use things other than herbicides for weed control. Because we've had 30 years of really effective herbicides that's the first place a lot of growers think. But I think we're gonna have to start thinking more about other approaches, things we used to do 40 and 50 years ago before herbicides were so effective.” - Dr. Drew Lyon

Lyon has seen herbicide tools come and go, both in their effectiveness and their availability. Because of this, he is a big advocate for an integrated weed management program, which he says all starts with trying to grow a competitive crop. He shares that there are also things that can be done to try to manage the overall seed bank of the weeds on fields. Cover crops, he says, can also be helpful with weed suppression if you have the moisture. When all is said and done, Lyon’s advice on weed management comes down to three basic principles: don’t get weeds started, do everything you can to grow a competitive crop, and always be changing things up.

“Prevent weed problems from starting. If you don't have certain weeds on your farm, make sure you don't get them… Do everything you can to grow a competitive crop…And then the other thing is to change things up. Anytime you do the same thing over and over again, you tend to select for those weeds that do well in that system…Human nature is that we like to stick with things until we break them, but that's the recipe for getting weed problems” - Dr Drew Lyon

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Join Dr. Drew Lyon is a Professor and the Endowed Chair of Small Grains Extension and Research for Weed Science at Washington State University in Pullman
• Discussion of past, current and future integrated weed management for pulse crop producers
• Re-visit Dr. Drew Lyon’s discussion on harvest aids from season one in episode 12

Growing Pulse Crops is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

At the time of this interview, Steve Sebesta was the director of the Foundation Seed Program at North Dakota State University and the Deputy Commissioner of the North Dakota State Seed Department. Steve has since retired from these positions, so we were very lucky to capture his years of experience and expertise in this area before his retirement. In this episode, Steve discusses the critical role of the foundation seedstocks program, how the plant variety protection act works and why seed needs to be certified.

“North Dakota is a little unique compared to most other states in that we have a county seed increase program. So when a new variety is released and we have foundation seed available, the counties decide whether or not they want to produce seed in their county of that new variety. And if they do, then their county grower, who is typically an experienced grower, will produce seed essentially for the county. It's not his seed. He doesn't have ownership of it. It's for the county seed grower. So it's a really good way to increase the amount of seed available of a brand new variety very quickly.” - Steve Sebesta

Germination success, variety identification and weed presence contribute to the certification of seed that allows for the label required for selling seed in North Dakota. North Dakota has the largest seed certification agency in the country, with between 250,000 and 300,000 acres of seed production every year. Of that, field peas is their third largest crop, with over 21,000 acres in 2023. 

“A lot of the public varieties were funded by government programs, federal government programs. And so they needed a way to try to incentivize investment in research and development and production of new varieties. So they implemented the Plant Variety Protection Act which gives the variety owner the exclusive authority to determine who can and cannot produce seed of their product and market that seed. So there are a lot of infringements that are possible on a PVP variety that people need to be aware of.”  - Steve Sebesta

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Steve Sebesta who recently retired as the director of the Foundation Seed Program at North Dakota State University and the Deputy Commissioner of the North Dakota State Seed Department
• Discover the function, purpose and process of the Foundation Seed Program as well as the requirements that must be met for seed to be labeled as certified

Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast. 

Jeannie Rude is an agronomist at PRO Co-op in Northeast Montana. She manages part of the co-op’s business to help growers make decisions, solve agronomic problems, and provide inputs. Overall, Rude works with 13 different crops on an annual basis. She is acutely aware of how much her job and the success of her cooperative hinges on the viability of the farmer customers that they serve. 

“I love what I do because of the complexity. It definitely makes it more challenging. It makes it hard to bring new people into the business because they have to learn so much and it's not something that's in a textbook… I would not do this if it was routine and if it was something that was easy to copy.” - Jeannie Rude

In 2021 Rude discovered that there was limited research on grasshoppers due to the cyclical nature of their impact. She had to make some educated guesses for her clients in order to manage the grasshopper population explosion. Rude discusses grasshopper population thresholds, life cycles, management options and what environmental factors will affect their survival most. 

“There's a hundred species of grasshoppers between you in South Idaho and me and Northeast Montana. There are five that are pests and two that are giving us trouble right now in this area, so there's 98 that don't matter. So there's a ton of grasshoppers in the environment that are harmless….There's a threshold for action and all of those other grasshoppers, they're not part of your action threshold you're looking for.” - Jeannie Rude

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Jeannie Rude, an agronomist at PRO Co-op in Northeast Montana
• Discover the path Rude has taken to becoming the resident expert on grasshoppers for her area
• Explore what options are available to producers to manage grasshoppers and what weather conditions affect their populations most

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Dr. Barney Geddes is an assistant professor at North Dakota State University in the Department of Microbiological Sciences. His work focuses on microbes with the goal of boosting crop yields for farmers. More specifically he studies rhizobia which form symbiotic relationships with legume crops like pulses. In this episode, Geddes explains how nodulation works and what that means for farm decisions like inoculants. He grew up on a farm in Manitoba, and after studying microbiology as an undergrad, he decided to apply this knowledge to his lifelong passion for sustainable agriculture. His perspective is deep into the science but also rooted in the reality of growing up on a commercial farm. 

“Nodulation or the ultimate formation of a root nodule on the root of these pulses is really the result of quite an elegant communication and signal exchange between the plant and the microbe…It's really a communication between the two that ultimately leads the plant to understand it has the right microbe there to allow it to kind of gain entry and then it builds this house for it called the root nodule.” - Dr. Barney Geddes

According to Geddes, inoculation is “kind of a bet hedging process” in that producers are just making sure all the building blocks are made available for nodulation to occur. The plant will continue to send out signals to create nodules and will turn off those signals once they have met their needs. In this way, if there is excessive nitrogen in the soil, the plant will not be prompted to form the symbiotic relationship and nodulate. Plant stress and soil pH will also impact the symbiotic relationship and the success of nodulation.

“We're trying to build a translatable knowledge base that can lead to improvements in the industry. So that's been a big focus for us, is competition. These are living organisms that have to come into our environment and thrive there somehow…But thinking about that competition and, and what allows a microbe to thrive in a new environment is something we're starting to do a lot.” - Dr. Barney Geddes

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Dr. Barney Geddes an assistant professor at North Dakota State University in the Department of Microbiological Sciences
• Explore the intricacies of nodulation and the components that make it successful in the field
• Discover the best use scenarios for inoculants to encourage nodulation

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Dr. Perry Miller is a cropping systems scientist in the Land Resources and Environmental Sciences Dept at Montana State University. A large portion of the work Dr. Miller does includes working with pulse crops and how they can make other crops, namely wheat, grow better. Part one of this episode was published as episode two in this season and focused on crop diversification and fertility. In this episode, we focus on lentil agronomics. As more and more farmers started to grow lentils in their rotation instead of summer fallow, Perry says the early lessons about growing the crops included being mindful of herbicide carryover and applying an inoculant.

So you need to know what your soil residual herbicide history is because there are some persistent herbicides, and lentil tends to be a little bit the canary in the coal mine when it comes to herbicide residues. If you've got something in the soil, lentils will usually respond to it…The other easiest mistake to make is to not apply a rhizobial inoculant in a way that actually gets that bacteria in a living fashion onto the seed or into the soil in a way that can interact with lentils to help with fixed nitrogen.” - Dr. Perry Miller

Perry says that most producers are familiar enough with pulse crops to avoid those common pitfalls and that most are now focusing on optimizing their operation. One interesting area that he has been exploring is rolling timing and its impact on yield. Perry mentioned that even in their trials where there was flat ground and very little rocks, rolling still seemed to be beneficial to yield. Perry has also looked at five different seeding rates and found out the recommended seeding rate, in a lot of cases, was probably not enough. 

“Long story short, 1.5 x seeding rate was the economic optimum by the time you considered additional seed cost and what the yield response was. So it suggests that we're probably leaving some yield potential on the table by going at our old, traditional recommended seeding rates.” - Dr. Perry Miller

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Follow up with Dr. Perry Miller, a cropping systems scientist in the Land Resources and Environmental Sciences Dept at Montana State University. 
• Explore the many farming practices Perry has studied and explored to optimize the productivity of pulse crops

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Dr. Michael Wunsch is a Plant Pathologist at the Carrington Research Extension Center at North Dakota State University. He holds a Ph.D. from Cornell University in 2010, and has worked for NDSU ever since and focused on disease management problems on a wide breadth of crops grown in North Dakota. Michael’s focus is on applied research that can directly address farmer needs. In this episode we focus specifically on root rots in peas and lentils and how the soil temperature can affect successful yields.

“Basically what happens is, is if your soil temperatures are below 50 degrees Fahrenheit in that seven day period after planting the root rot severity is way lower, way lower. You're cutting your fusarium and aphanomyces root rot in half at those early mid vegetative growth. So they can get a lot bigger before the root rot gets bad.” - Dr. Michael Wunsch

Michael emphasizes that there are no silver bullets with these root rots and that both warm and cool season root rots cause problems for producers and need to be accounted for. Seed treatments with proper efficacy for pythium and rhizoctonia will start crops off on the right foot. Fusarium and aphanomyces become a bigger issue in warmer saturated soils later in the summer. These two pathogens tend to impregnate fields one year and won’t cause a problem until the next year's plantings. Unfortunately seed treatments will no longer be present when temperatures warm up. Planting early in cooler soils will allow for the plants to be larger and more hardy prior to when their warm fungal adversaries will start causing a problem. The third management strategy that is an important piece for managing these root rots is crop rotation. 

“It's just a no-brainer. You use a seed treatment with peas when you're planting in soils below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and if you want to minimize your root rot, you need to plant in soils that are cool…The seed treatment basically gives you another four to five bushels. And so you're looking at a four to eight bushel gain by optimizing your planting day relative to soil temperature….Suddenly you're at eight to 13 bushels with those two tools.” - Dr. Michael Wunsch

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Dr. Michael Wunsch is a Plant Pathologist at the Carrington Research Extension Center at North Dakota State University.
• Explore different strategies that when integrated together can help producers manage common causes for devastating root rot
• Discover the ongoing research into root rot and the further techniques being assessed

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Aphids are known for the destruction they can cause due to feeding damage. But they can also be responsible for transmitting harmful viruses into the crops. In this episode we hear from Dr. Lyndon Porter is a plant pathologist at USDA-ARS based in Prosser, Washington, Dr. Sean Prager is an associate professor of entomology at the University of Saskatchewan and Dr. Sanford Eigenbrode is a professor of entomology at the University of Idaho. There is a tremendous amount of collective knowledge in this group covering aphid-related topics including the development of genetic tolerance to the insect and resistance to the viruses.  We also discuss aphid sampling and hosts, chemical options for management and other integrated pest management strategies.

“We estimated a direct injury threshold, a level of aphid infestation that would justify a spray. And we had a second calculator that attempted to help growers who are concerned about the aphid as a vector of the virus, which is a different thing. In that case, we would say the nominal threshold is one aphid because it only takes an aphid that's prolific to feed for an hour and you have a sick plant.” - Dr. Sanford Eigenbrode

Lyndon says that giving growers real time data on aphid presence and aphid levels has been a critical step to helping with management of this pest and associated diseases. All three of our guests agree the long term goal is a combination of integrated pest management built upon a foundation of genetic tolerance to the pest and resistance to the diseases. This represents a really interesting area of research that combines entomology, pathology, plant breeding and several other areas of study. 

“If we can just get the associations between genetic elements and resistance, we can skip knowing exactly what those genes are coding for as long as we can track them into the breeding lines.” - Dr. Sanford Eigenbrode 

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Dr. Lyndon Porter, a plant pathologist at USDA-ARS based in Washington, Dr. Sean Prager, an associate professor of entomology at the University of Saskatchewan, and Dr. Sanford Eigenbrode, a professor of entomology at the University of Idaho
• Explore the impact of aphids and the measures being taken to not only reduce the damage aphids cause by feeding but also reduce the impact of the viruses the aphids vector
• Discover the factors contributing to aphid spread and the monitoring proving to be significant in managing their impact
• Learn about the process towards developing genetic resistance to this pest and the tools being used to produce results quicker

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Dr. Nonoy Bandillo is an assistant professor and pulse crops breeder who directs the pulse crops breeding program at North Dakota State University. He says their ultimate goal at the program is to develop and release varieties that maximize economic return to producers and to provide high quality crops to the pulse crops industry. In this episode we discuss key challenges in pulse crops that are being addressed through genetics, some of the varieties that his program has released in the past, and some exciting new lines that are in the pipeline. 

“So the zero tannin lentil that we have in the pipeline, it doesn't have tannin or there's minimal tannin and it does not have any brownish color, which I would say, in my opinion, is not really a good characteristic of the seed of lentil.” - Dr. Nonoy Bandillo

Over the years of the NDSU breeding program, there have been several milestones, but perhaps most importantly, the release of four new cultivars. As these cultivars get released, it does take a while for them to be available commercially. ND Crown for example, was released in 2020, but there should finally be enough seed this year to be available for farmers.The program also has an additional eight lines in the pre-release phase of the pipeline. Disease resistance, yield, protein content and flavor remain high priorities for pulse crop breeding programs going forward. Nonoy and other plant breeders work extremely closely with plant pathologists to understand the mechanisms for disease resistance and to try to understand how to develop varieties accordingly.

“Our goal is to always collaborate with multiple breeders, not just within the US, but all around the world to get new sources of germ plasm or materials that we can use for the program… I feel like collaboration always starts with figuring out the important biological question that should be highly relevant to producers.” -Dr. Nonoy Bandillo

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Dr. Nonoy Bandillo an assistant professor and pulse crops breeder who directs the pulse crops breeding program at North Dakota State University
• Explore the strategy, purpose and effect of the ongoing research towards new pulse crop cultivars
• Discover the vast collaborative efforts throughout the industry to produce better cultivars for both the market and producers

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Dr. Perry Miller is a cropping systems scientist in the Land Resources and Environmental Sciences Dept at Montana State University. He specializes in crop diversification strategies and says a big chunk of that work includes working with pulse crops and how they can make other crops, namely wheat, grow better. In this episode, Miller discusses some of these crop diversification strategies, the benefits to including pulse crop rotations, some of the work they're doing on crop fertility and how much nitrogen benefit he’s seeing from peas and lentils. 

“So I can best speak from the Montana perspective, and I would say the evidence is very strong that our agriculture systems have become more diversified. Farmers have become more adventurous, more risk takers than they were in the past…So yeah, our systems have diversified pretty dramatically.” - Dr. Perry Miller

In Montana, Miller has seen sharp reductions in summer fallow in no small part because peas and lentils are a viable option. One of the benefits to diversifying a rotation by adding these crops is the potential nitrogen benefits. Miller emphasizes that the benefits are real, but they aren’t very predictable or as cut and dry as we might want them to be. 

“So what is that nitrogen benefit behind pulse crops? It's not super easy to predict, but it's real, it's common and it happens often…If you grow it once, it's hit and miss whether you're gonna get a nitrogen response behind it. The second time, especially the third time, there's been a pulse crop on that field, it seems like it's much more reliable in terms of that nitrogen response.” -Dr. Perry Miller

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Dr. Perry Miller, cropping systems scientist in the Land Resources and Environmental Sciences Dept at Montana State University
• Explore the strategy behind crop diversity and the advantages producers can experience by planning their crop rotations with future inputs and soil health in mind while moving away from summer fallow practices
• Understand the impact of no-till and water infiltration in combination with strategic crop diversity as a combined effort to improve yield, sustainability and productivity of the land

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Over the past 15 years Paul Overby has converted his North Dakota farm to no-till, added zone management for nutrient management, diversified his rotations and added cover crops. He shares his journey toward building healthier soils, the importance of pulse crops in his rotation, and his recent experiences with growing pea/canola intercrop. Overby had already started growing peas before he decided to make the switch to no-till, but his interest in pulses grew as he started to understand the benefits they can have on not only economics but on his soil health program as well.

“We did bring the peas in as a way of labor management, planting and harvesting early. And there was a market. Dakota Dry Bean at the time did have a pea market, so that was relatively close by and easy to ship into…. And then as we got into the whole soil health side of things, then having peas in a rotation started switching for other reasons. Some of the value in having them in the rotation started showing up as we started learning about arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.” -Paul Overby

Whether it’s as a primary crop, in an intercrop or as a cover crop, Overby sees pulses as an important part of his rotation and something to consider for anyone who wants to build healthier soils. Always on the hunt for new ideas to improve his farm, he observed what others were doing in intercropping. This led to a pea/canola intercrop experiment of his own last year.

“Canola and brassicas are not mycorrhizal associated plants, peas are. Is there a synergy there? Can you put peas under the soil and, and help out the canola that way? So this past year, we did a trial. We had two strips in a canola field where we had peas interceded with the canola.” - Paul Overby

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet farmer Paul Overby and hear about his journey into no till, pulse crops and intercropping techniques
• Understand Overby’s experience with cover crops and water infiltration and how that encouraged him to explore no till and pulse crops
• Explore the soil health benefits Overby found beyond water infiltration from the pulse crops he has used

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

PLEASE COMPLETE THE LISTENER SURVEY: https://bit.ly/Pulses2022

The Land Institute’s Brandon Schlautman joins the show about the work he is doing to breed perennial pulses. Brandon is the lead scientist of the perennial legumes program at the Land Institute which is based in Salina, KS. The 40 year old non-profit ag research institute tries to find solutions that balance short term economic realities with long term conservation goals. They’re known for their work in kernza, and hope to make similar progress in pulses. In this episode we talk about why developing a perennial pulse crop is worthwhile, where they started down this road, how they settled on sainfoin for the perennial pulse development, and the road ahead towards commercialization.

“My program at The Land Institute focuses on perennial pulses and we're exploring various candidates and are starting to work towards something that can kind of mimic a pea or a chickpea or a lentil, but be something that has living roots in the ground year round, and gonna make it through our winters and recover and always be there. It's kind of a plant once and harvest many times type of deal.” -Brandon Schlautman

So when Brandon arrived at The Land Institute, one of his early challenges was to find the most promising perennial legumes to consider for commercial development. This open ended task was the first step to narrowing it down to a plant he could work with. He eventually settled on sainfoin. One big plus about sainfoin, is that it actually is already grown in some areas as a commercial crop. But settling on sainfoin is just one of the many challenges of bringing this new crop to production. The hope is this will find a premium market, reduce soil disturbance, and thrive on minimal inputs. 

“There are a couple thousand acres of production in the western part of the US. And I really like that there's a sainfoin seed industry already. We've talked with multiple growers in Montana that they grow and clean seed and sell it to other producers mostly for forage production. So we have some of this knowledge about how sainfoin can be grown and how to do the seed production. The eating it is the next step and so we're excited.” - Brandon Schautman

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Brandon Schautman the lead scientist of the perennial legumes program at the Land Institute 
• Explore the journey towards developing and producing a perineal pulse crop
• Discover the benefits of having a perennial crop and the possible opportunities sainfoin can offer producers
• Learn more at www.landinstitute.org

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Dr. Cody Creech and Dr. Carrie Eberle join the show to talk about new frontiers for pulse crops in Nebraska and Wyoming. We’ll explore where and how these crops are fitting into rotations, the challenges of growing pulses in new areas, double cropping, and water use efficiency. 

Cody is a dryland cropping systems specialist with the University of Nebraska Lincoln located at the panhandle center in Western Nebraska. He focuses on crops that can be grown without needing much water including soil water conservation, fertility, weed management and ways to improve overall use efficiency in Western Nebraska. 

“This area of Nebraska and Wyoming has not been a target for breeding programs for these pulse crops. And so in the past 10 years, there's been a lot of improvement in these varieties, much better varieties that are much better adapted, but there's still a long ways to go in that realm. If we can keep working on that breeding side of things, I think we're gonna see continued success in pulse crops in both Nebraska and Wyoming.” - Cody Creech, Ph.D.

Carrie, at the time of this interview was a cropping systems agronomist with the University of Wyoming located studying alternative crops for the region and looking at sustainable farming practices. Since the time this interview took place back in January, she has since gone on to work for the USDA ARS as an agroecologist based in Morris, Minnesota. 

“I think for the Wyoming system, our farmers are mostly looking to understand if the crop is going to work for them. So there's questions just about growing in the region and when they should plant, how they harvest, what their populations look like. There's a lot of questions around weed control in those crops. And then the other big challenge for our farmers is always access to markets.” - Carrie Eberle, Ph.D.

This week on Growing Pulse Crops: 

• Meet Dr. Cody Creech and Dr. Carrie Eberle
• What is prompting growers in Wyoming and Nebraska to consider pulse crops for the first times
• The need for genetics, research, and markets in order to expand the production of pulses in this area
• How pulse crops figure into the need for water use efficiency in these dry areas

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Nicole Atchison is the CEO of PURIS Holdings, a vertically-integrated plant-based food company that operates from field to fork in primarily yellow peas. Nicole leads the agriculture side of the business, including contracting with growers, seed development and breeding, and innovation in product development. Her brother Tyler leads the ingredient side of the business. PURIS operates throughout the entire supply chain from developing genetics to developing new markets. 

“So if you're making a high protein cereal, you need a different pea protein than if you're making a plant-based beverage, which is still using a pea protein. But those two pea proteins are slightly different. And that's really the innovation that we do on our processing side, is we create these different proteins with different functionalities so that they can work in these different applications.”  - Nicole Atchison

Atchison describes the wet protein processing they are using that provides a unique protein stream with a lot of potential for furthering plant-based protein production. She sees potential for pulse proteins in providing protein sources for both consumer beverages and medical nutrition. As they ramp up production, PURIS Holdings is also active in ongoing efforts to regulate the impact of foreign pulse crop processing and imports affecting both global and domestic markets.

“I'm a huge advocate for pulse based ingredients because I do think that as much as we want and encourage people to have and eat whole pulses, that's not where the American consumer is today. We like convenient foods, packaged and processed. That's where our market is. And so we need to be able to drive these crops into those channels as well and that's why processing is so critical to the market.” - Nicole Atchison

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Nicole Atchison is the CEO of PURIS Holdings
• Discover the journey PURIS Holdings has taken to develop plant-based proteins and their initial introduction to pulse crops
• Explore the global ingredient market for pulses and the operations of processing pulse crops

Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast. 

In this episode Dr. Tyler Wist discusses the impact caused by grasshoppers and aphids in pulse crops. Tyler is a field crop entomologist with Agriculture and Agrifood Canada based at the Saskatoon Research and Development Center. He does research on field crop insects to find ways to better protect crops, establish economic thresholds, and identify and understand plant-insect interactions. He starts the conversation with personal insights in grasshoppers.

“The real trouble is when grasshoppers get into a flowering crop. You can have a beautiful green lentil crop and they'll move in and they'll just clip the flower off….If it drops its flowers, you get no pods, then you get no yield. So the grasshoppers like to clip those flowers off, especially in lentils. So our threshold that we use up here in Canada is actually really low.” - Dr. Tyler Wist

With this potential for yield loss, it is important to understand exactly where that threshold should be. Another pest that causes substantial damage in pulse crops is the aphid. Tyler says they started using the cumulative aphid density to identify thresholds and found out that the economic threshold actually comes before the economic injury level. While counting aphids might sound tedious to some, rigorous scouting is of the utmost importance during the susceptible period. 

“If you're not careful with aphids at the flowering stage of your fava bean plants, you could lose your whole crop.” - Dr. Tyler Wist

There are so many dynamics at play here including the biology of the insect, field conditions, overwintering, and timing. Tyler said all of this research he is involved in comes together to provide the most accurate economic thresholds possible. Along with continual monitoring, introducing beneficial insects can be an important part of an effective integrated pest management program. Tyler says Field Heroes have a great website with resources for learning more about beneficial insects.

“We're doing the science for you and those economic thresholds are there to help you save money, to know when you don't need to apply insecticides.” - Dr. Tyler Wist

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Dr. Tyler Wist, a field crop entomologist with Agriculture and Agrifood Canada based at the Saskatoon Research and Development Center. 
• Explore the effects of grasshoppers and aphids in pulse crops
• Discover the economic thresholds, research and resources available to producers to better mitigate insect pests

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

In this episode we continue our conversation with Greg Busch, a farmer in the far northwest corner of North Dakota. In case you missed Greg’s introduction, he farms with his wife Jessica and they’ve been growing pulses as part of their rotation for over thirty years. We talk about what led Greg to try intercropping, which combinations have worked for him, the benefits and challenges of this approach, and his advice for others who might want to experiment with intercropping.  

“I was thinking I was going to still see the same root rot that we had seen five or 10 years before, but that didn't happen. It just seemed like the two grew together and they formed a really good synergy. In the areas that are a little more saline prone, where peas do very poorly, the canola was thicker. In the areas on hilltops, where the canola tends to run out of moisture, the peas did better. The combination far exceeded what we would've gotten with peas alone.” - Greg Busch

Greg continues to adjust his protocols as needed. One priority has been to even out the maturity of the crops to maximize their harvest. He mentions there is an added cost in cleaning and separating the crops he harvests but is hopeful he may someday find a market that will accept the mix. Initially there were concerns that the moisture content in the peas would be too much for the canola while storing the two together but Greg was surprised to find that that wasn’t the case. 

“They store very nicely together…. We were quite concerned that we were gonna have moldy canola when we opened the bin door, but that just wasn't the case. In fact, we let that combination sit in the bin for a year and a half till we got around to cleaning it. And trust me, I was checking it because I was concerned. I didn't want to burn up a bin of combined grain, but when we cleaned it a year and a half later, it came out just as nice as when we put it in. So it's amazing that they do store that way.” - Greg Busch

Greg initially incorporated intercropping to feed “the soil microbes and the different soil life that is out there.” He has also experienced an overall price reduction in production costs by reducing input needs. 

“When it comes to chemical, you have these two crops competing with each other and shading out most of the other weeds that are out there. And we're seeing a reduction in weeds and a reduction in the need for additional chemical.” - Greg Busch

Greg continues to make adjustments as needed based on market prices, water availability and input costs.

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Continue our conversation with Greg Busch, a farmer up in the far northwest corner of North Dakota
• Discover his journey into intercropping and the results he has enjoyed
• Explore the trials and lessons he has learned by adding intercropping to his rotation

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Greg Busch is a farmer in the far northwest corner of North Dakota. He farms with his wife Jessica and they’ve been growing pulses as part of their rotation for over thirty years. Greg joins us over the next two episodes to talk about what led him to diversify his rotation to include up to ten different crops. He tells us what he has learned through these experiences and where pulses specifically fit into the mix. 

“When we first started farming and specifically when we first started no-till we were a monoculture and we saw a lot of problems with that, a lot of disease. It took a lot of extra fertilizer to keep growing crops like that.….We couldn't continue to do that. We were seeing depletion in our soil, erosion and land costs were getting higher.” - Greg Busch

A local extension agent introduced the Busch operation to field peas in an effort to more efficiently use his land. With that addition, they noticed not only could they grow the crop but they had reduced fertilizer inputs as early as the next year. Forgive the pun but with that the seed of crop diversity was planted. This crop diversity quickly enhanced their soil health by decreasing erosion and fertilizer needs confirmed with the Haney Soil Test.

“We do have a nice residual of nitrogen when we've done our soil tests. It comes back telling us that. We do the Haney Soil Test on most of our ground every year and they give you a soil health score based on a number of different things, carbon release is one of them. And those fields always seem to show higher and we’ve been very pleased.” - Greg Busch

Greg has noticed that there is much less tillage in his area in North Dakota. Less labor, less equipment costs, less passes in the fields and not to forget many soil health benefits have enticed many producers to pursue no-till practices. A major goal for Greg on his operation has been to increase the organic matter in his fields. His soil tests have proven that he has certainly accomplished that goal with a 3-4 times higher organic matter observed since adopting these rotations and practices. 

“It just seems like the ground is a lot more forgiving. It seems to absorb heavy rainfall events better than fields with low organic matter. And it also seems to carry us through short droughts better than the ground with less organic matter. ” - Greg Busch

Join us in the next episode where Greg share’s specifically about his experiences with intercropping. 

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Greg Busch is a farmer up in the far northwest corner of North Dakota
• Explore the journey he has taken from a monoculture operation to one with 8 to 10 rotations including pulse crops
• Discover the many soil health benefits he has observed and how he identifies them and uses them to his advantage
• Stay tuned for the next episode where Greg joins us again to share his experience with intercropping

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Mark Jirik of the Northern Crops Institute joins the show to talk about their value-added product development and their role in education of a variety of crops. Northern Crops Institute is an international meeting and learning center that unites customers, commodity traders, technical experts, and professors for discussion and education. Since 1983, over 133 nations have sent participants to NCI who are government representatives, private industry agriculture workers, or from other commodity utilization industries. 

“95% of our course participants had a better understanding of the US supply chain. 99% had a better understanding of quality and 51% increased their purchase of US commodities as a result of what they learned in our courses.” - Mark Jirik

To carry out their mission, NCI focuses on product development work and technical training and education. And like everyone else, they really had to adapt to the events of the past couple of years. 

“The pandemic has really forced us to take a look at how we do things. So when we talk about education and technical education, historically, that has been in person training….We do some domestic facing courses as well. And obviously with a pandemic that couldn't happen. So we ended up moving a lot of that education online.” - Mark Jirik

Along with extensive education services, NCI services producers by identifying best product development processes. What they do is not really research, but everything related to the development of a process to get the final product consumer-ready.This unique vantage point has given Mark a special perspective on the global agricultural industry. 

“Pulses are a very versatile crop. And when you start looking at the last 10, 15, 20 years, we've been in this protein pool market and pulses have been a very important component….whether you start talking Africa or other parts of Asia, there’s gonna be people that are hungry for protein and I think pulses fit a very nice niche for those people.” - Mark Jirik

To continue to meet the developmental needs of the global food industry, NCI is going to be moving into a brand new facility on the North Dakota State University campus. This new facility will help NCI’s work on behalf of farmers to best position themselves for the future ahead.

“(We are making) sure that people know who NCI is, but more importantly, when they think of quality pulses, they think of our region…it's about increasing the bottom line for growers.” - Mark Jirik

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Mark Jirik, Director of the Northern Crops Institute
• Explore the benefits NCI offers producers and the education services they provide to global markets to encourage US commodity consumption
• Learn about the new facility NCI will grow into to better facilitate their end-product development process and educational services

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Dr. Arti Singh joins us to talk about a lesser known pulse crop that is showing a lot of potential for increased commercial production in the U.S.. The mungbean, which has traditionally been grown for bean sprouts, is seeing increased demand due to its ideal properties for many plant-based proteins. 

“The mungbean is a very versatile crop when it comes to uses and the quality of protein. The market is just amazing right now it's opening up in all different directions. I see there is a lot more benefit in growing this crop which is right now in a minor stage.” - Dr. Arti Singh

Dr. Singh is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Agronomy at Iowa State University with more than 15 years of plant breeding experience. After obtaining her PhD degree from G.B. Pant University in India, she worked as a Postdoctoral fellow at the University of Saskatchewan and then at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada prior to joining Iowa State University. Her breeding program focused on developing new varieties for plant-based protein markets. Her research projects are geared towards harnessing genetic diversity for genetic gain, utilization of advanced data analytics particularly machine and deep learning for early disease and stress signatures, and genetic/genomic studies on abiotic and biotic stress resistance.

“I know farmers are very innovative and those growers who are looking for a new crop or they are looking to incorporate more diversity in their crop portfolio, please try mungbeans..This industry is going to grow…However, to reach there we’ll need a collective effort in industry, private and public, to bring this crop into the mainstream.” - Dr. Arti Singh

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Dr. Arti Singh, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Agronomy at Iowa State University
• Explore the mungbean and the potential benefits it offers US growers
• Discover the research in plant breeding that Dr. Singh is involved in and the results they are producing

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Dr. Steve Shirtliffe joins us to talk about weed management in lentils. Steve is a professor in the department of plant sciences at the University of Saskatchewan. His research over the past couple of decades has focused on agronomy, with extensive work on weed management in pulses specifically. Steve and I talk about some of the challenges specific to lentils when it comes to weed management, and some of the latest research, innovation and best practices in this area. Steve and his colleagues and graduate students have had the chance to explore a lot of different possibilities for integrated weed management in pulses. One practice that has made a significant difference has been increasing seeding rates. 

“We found that basically as soon as you started to increase your seeding rate, You got more crop biomass that meant there was less weed biomass that was there. So it was essentially just kind of almost a replacement thing that the more crop biomass you got there, you got that much less weed biomass.” - Dr. Steve Shirtliffe

But of course increasing the seeding rate isn’t the only answer for organic weed management. They’ve also looked at a variety of mechanical control methods, and tried to determine what would give producers the most optimal weed control. With resistance to group two herbicides, conventional farmers are benefitting from these practices as well. Although Steve admits that herbicides are still mostly preferred while available and still effective. 

“If you can keep them weed-free from the five node stage to the ten node stage, if you can control weeds in that zone, you're home free, that's it. You don't have to worry about the weeds that start after that. And if you control them by the five node stage, they haven't done enough damage. So if you can keep them weed free in that period, you've done your job.” - Dr. Steve Shirtliffe

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Dr. Steve Shirtliffe, a professor in the department of plant sciences at the University of Saskatchewan.
• Explore the effect of seeding rate in organic weed management especially with limited options for inputs when growing pulse crops
• Discover equipment and timing options that most efficiently and effectively manage weed populations

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Steve Zwinger joins the show to talk about variety development, intercropping, and organic pulse production. Steve is a research specialist in agronomy at NDSU Carrington Research Extension Center. One of his primary responsibilities is research into organic production, and pulse crops are an important part of these rotations. Steve has been involved in this type of research since the 1990s, and works with a number of crops, including small grains, pulses, and some work in ancient grains as well. You’re going to hear about what he’s discovering in his intercropping research, the benefits he sees in organic variety development for both organic and conventional growers, and the importance of seeding rates.

For those that might be new to intercropping, we’ve done some episodes on the topic in episode three of this season as well as last season episode six and an intercropping panel bonus episode. Steve says research has shown other benefits as well, such as disease suppression in a chickpea/flax intercrop. Disease resilience could be a reason to do further research into intercropping, but it also guides Steve’s work in breeding organic varieties in general.

“So basically intercropping is really looked at as a practice of growing two or more crops together in the field at the same time. And basically what we're doing is we're looking for combinations of plants that will compliment each other better than when they're planted alone. This can lead to increased yield and increased quality…. I thought it seemed to make sense from a number of standpoints, maybe it might have a fit in organic. And that's why I started looking at some of that.” - Steve Zwinger

He sees benefits of organic variety development not just for certified organic producers, but for conventional farmers as well. This concept of developing varieties in an organic system is an interesting one. As we think about trying to develop more resilient varieties that can prevail in less than ideal conditions, there’s a real argument to be made that more varieties should be developed this way. Overall one theme that definitely runs through a lot of Steve's work is this idea of building resilience, building it into varieties, but also just building it into agricultural systems.

“The variety choice is the easiest decision that can be made that's going to have the biggest impact for the farmer. So variety development is really important and I can't stress it enough. Where we really, really need to go for the future is developing varieties specifically for organic agriculture…Having those types of genetics is very important for all agriculture, of course, but particularly when your tools are limited by the amount of inputs that you can use.” - Steve Zwinger

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Steve Zwinger, a research specialist in agronomy at NDSU Carrington Research Extension Center.
• Explore the value of intercropping and the research Steve is involved in to determine this methods potential in organic farming
• Discover the benefits of intercropping with peas and the research being done on adjusting seeding rates

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

If you’ve ever thought that direct-to-consumer farm businesses are only for those located close to urban centers, this episode will challenge that thinking. Scobey, Montana is considered the second most middle-of-nowhere town in America. That’s where Terry grew up on the farm, and where he and Shauna have built their farm and business. Together they share about their journey on Farver Farms from farming to building their own farmer-direct brand of lentil snacks and mixes. 

“Our kids were getting ready to graduate from high school and talking about wanting to come back to the farm. As anyone in agriculture knows, there's only so many acres and only so many cows you can put on those acres or so much crop…So then the question became, how do we bring these two kids back and support two more families? And we knew that part of that was going to have to be off farm income.” - Shauna Farver

The Farver’s have developed and sell Lentil Crunchers as well as lentil-based cooking and baking mixes. This is a great story of finding creative ways to add value to a pulse crop marketing plan. It’s no easy undertaking, but it can be done. At the onset, Terry and Shauna pursued lentils as a part of the rotation to help with weed management.

“They didn't really have a good chemical yet for getting wild oats, which is a grass out of wheat, which is a grass. And growing a legume which is a lentil, they had a chemical that was very inexpensive and worked really well. So you go in on your wheat ground that has bad wild oats, you grow legumes or lentils, and you spray this chemical and all your wild oats are gone. And it does a really nice job. It's a really good rotation.” - Terry Farver

Like any new venture, they had to start with what they had and sort of figure it out on the fly to get established. From the initial task of production, they have expanded into direct-to-consumer lentil products. Once they started gaining some early traction it was time to increase their capacity so they could meet the demand they were creating. They also increased the number of products they offered. The Farvers estimate that in a normal year, they're still selling less than 10% of their lentil production through this food business, but it's working and it's growing. Shawna said there still is one main challenge though, that she sees for other aspiring value added farmers out there.

“Infrastructure, I think is probably our biggest barrier. I know that there's a group working on some infrastructure particularly related to food production here in the Eastern side of the state. And I'm anxious to see what happens there. That might make things a little easier….it doesn't mean it can't be overcome. It just takes a little creativity sometimes.” - Shauna Farver

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Terry and Shauna Farver, owners of Farver Farms and developers of Lentil Crunchers.
• Discover their journey into pulse crops and the evolution of an alternate source of income for their operation
• Explore the pitfalls and successes they have experienced with their lentil products

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Chris Wiegert joins the show to talk about his unique role in the pulse crops industry. As both the chief business development officer and chief sustainability officer of Healthy Food Ingredients, Chris has a great sense of various pulse markets and the ins and outs of maximizing value from these crops. Based in Watertown, South Dakota, Chris and his team at Healthy Food Ingredients contract organic, identity preserved and other specialty pulse, small grain, and oil seed crops. 

“All of our facilities are food grade, so we're primarily in that food space, but we're in the middle. We're taking that product from the farmer, we're putting it into whatever form that end-user wants it in and then we're sending it to the end user to make the final food typically.” - Chris Wiegert

Chris discusses what customers are demanding when it comes to pulses including allergen free, identity preserved, and other specialty markets. We also talk about the importance of sustainability to consumers and food companies. This is an area of agriculture that is becoming more and more data-driven, and one that is important for everyone who works with pulse crops to understand. 

It's really a specialty market because you're probably trying to hit a spec, whatever that is, or we're looking for zero toxins or zero heavy metals or something like that. It's a specialty market all the way through, even if you don't consider the crop a specialty crop.” - Chris Wiegert

A big part of that specialty market that has really emerged in recent years is allergen free products. When you’re talking about something as important and as specialized as allergen free, Chris says the entire process from farm to consumer needs to be aligned. Ensuring this type of allergen-free designation takes a lot of communication with growers. As does another type of speciality market: identity-preserved or IP. It seems incredibly tedious to know exactly where every shipment of pulses comes from. Chris says they’re not necessarily tracing it back for potential problems, but for potential opportunities. Having this information provides them with the opportunity to market the farming practices to the consumers.

“Our real niche is working with a customer based on what they feel is important and let's see if we can get all the way to the farm to help it.” - Chris Wiegert

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Chris Wiegert, the chief business development officer and chief sustainability officer of Healthy Food Ingredients
• Explore the systems and approaches HFI takes to provide the best products for their customers
• Discover the new marketing opportunities they are able to provide producers by identifying their farming practices, unique ingredient characteristics and sustainability efforts.

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

In this episode we have the opportunity to listen to an interview recorded for the War Against Weeds podcast. Co-hosts Dr. Sarah Lancaster and Dr. Joe Ikley are both weed scientists: Sarah at Kansas State University and Joe at North Dakota State. Together they help listeners understand what it takes for farmers to fight the war against weeds. Joining Sarah and Joe on today’s episode are Dr. Lucas Haag, the Northwest Area Agronomist for Kansas State University, and Jeanne Falk Jones, a trained weed scientist and multi-county agronomist for Kansas State University extension also based in Northwest Kansas. 

In the interview, Sarah, Joe, Lucas, and Jeanne talk mostly about field peas and dry beans, including the growth of these crops in Kansas, and what’s working when it comes to weed management. Stay tuned to the end of the episode for a really interesting conversation on herbicide carryover. 

“Dry beans are a really good alternative especially and primarily when we're looking at them on irrigated ground…And so they're a really good rotation crop, especially when we have a lot of irrigated corn. We have water needs at a little bit of a different time and they've seemed to be a little more economically viable for those versus just solely irrigated corn.” - Jeanne Falk Jones

She goes on to compare the use and benefits of dry beans rather than the more familiar soybeans. A strong thriving market, more Kansas soil tolerance and less susceptibility to fungus are some of the advantages dry beans have. Lucas adds that pulse crops have the added ability as cover crops to help solve one of the biggest obstacles for Kansas farmers, water efficiency.

“Everything in this part of the world is about how do we get the biggest economic return out of water? And it doesn't matter whether it's precipitation or coming on through a pivot…We're only about 20% efficient at storing that rainfall we get during a fallow period. So what if we can take that 80% that we would lose to evaporation anyways and turn that into something marketable like field peas.” -Dr. Lucas Haag

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet  Dr. Sarah Lancaster and Dr. Joe Ikley weed scientists and co-hosts of the War Against Weeds podcast.
• Discover Kansas field peas and weed management in pulse crops with Dr. Lucas Haag, the Northwest Area Agronomist for Kansas State University, and Jeanne Falk Jones, a trained weed scientist and multi-county agronomist for Kansas State University extension
• Explore the benefits of pulse crops being added to a Kansas rotation and the specific weed management needs associated with their use
• Connect with all our guests on Twitter at @lancasarach, @NDSUWeeds, @LucasAHaag and @cropswithjeanne and also on their websites for the Northwest Research-Extension Center and the Sunflower District Agronomy

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Dr. Eric von Wettberg is a professor at the University of Vermont and the director of the Vermont Agriculture Experiment Station. His research program focuses on understanding crop domestication as a means to harness the diversity of crop wild relatives to breed crops with improved climate resilience and stress tolerance. In this episode we discuss Von Wettberg’s work in pulses, his adventures in germplasm collection, the challenges and opportunities of maintaining genetic diversity, and the importance of protecting crop wild relatives. 

“We're never fully done with collecting germplasm because there might be more out there and those plants are in a natural habitat. That habitat is not static, so they may be changing over time. There's diseases in some natural populations and disease resistance can actually evolve. So we need to be collecting germplasm continually, and we should even have preserves or parks that hold crop wild relatives. To let them evolve so that we can let evolution generate more resistant varieties for us.”  - Dr. Eric von Wettberg

Von Wettberg shares his concern with the loss of genetic variation in crops, particularly pulses, as a result of human cultivation and selection. A lack of genetic variation reduces resilience of these crops to expected effects of climate change such as drought and disease. In his research group, they are using a new collection of the wild relatives of chickpea to restore genetic variation to cultivated chickpea, and to better understand the genetic basis of flowering time and drought tolerance. 

“Any mutation, whether it's a new mutation or an old mutation, is helpful. But by collecting, we're more likely to find the old mutations… By looking in wild populations, there's just been more time for those mutations to occur, which makes them a helpful place to look.” - Dr. Eric von Wettberg

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Dr. Eric von Wettberg is a professor at the University of Vermont and the director of the Vermont Agriculture Experiment Station
• Explore the impact the loss of genetic variation can have on crop varieties and what is being done to mitigate that risk

Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast. 

Dr. Héctor Cárcamo is a senior research scientist at the Lethbridge Research and Development Center in Alberta which is part of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Hector’s work focuses on developing integrated pest management strategies for insect pests in crops such as faba beans, field peas, canola, and some forage crops. He helps growers develop management strategies and looks for ways to reduce reliance on chemistry. 

This episode focuses on two pulse crop pests in particular: lygus bugs and pea leaf weevils. We also talk more generally about biological control of insect pests including predators, parasites, and trap crops. Héctor shares that research suggests that some pests, if the populations are managed, can actually improve crop performance. 

“If you have a few insect pests on the crop, you actually can stimulate the plant because we have seen a bit of a response where you have a few insects on the plant and you actually get more yield compared to a plant that has no insects at all.” - Dr. Héctor Cárcamo

An overpopulation of pests will of course affect yield but also and sometimes more importantly it will affect quality and flavor. Héctor suggests that pests are meant to be managed not eliminated. A part from the benefit of the plants being stimulated, some of these insects provide a link in the food chain for other species useful in providing biodiversity. 

“My advice for growers in general is you have to be informed about the entomology, you know, the insects that are there and find out as much information as you can in terms of how you maximize the design of your farm.” -Dr. Héctor Cárcamo

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Dr. Héctor Cárcamo, a senior research scientist at the Lethbridge Research and Development Center in Alberta which is part of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
• Discover the life cycle of  lygus bugs and pea leaf weevils that producers might face and different techniques used to manage their populations
• Learn more by contacting Dr. Carcamo on Twitter @hectorcarabido

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Dr. Clair Keene joins us to talk about both intercropping and incorporating pulses into an organic rotation. At the time of our interview, Clair was the extension specialist in cropping systems at the Williston Research Extension Center where she supported farmers directly as well as conducted research and extension outreach with county agents and other stakeholders. Since that time her title has changed to assistant professor and agronomist at North Dakota State University, but her research interests remain in crop rotation, weed management, cover crops, soil health, organic agriculture, and perennial forages. 

We’re going to talk about the intercropping work Clair has participated in as well as some of her efforts to help farmers that want to transition to organic systems in the state. Clair does a great job of blending the agronomic and economic considerations in this episode. 

“Farmers that have grown chickpea with flax, say that they don't see as much ascochyta in their fields. They don't need to spray as often. So they see it as a really important disease management tool. And so I wanted to do the small plot work. Let's see if we can ideally try to figure out why, why does it work?” - Dr. Clair Keene

Intercropping is the act of growing two different crops that are generally planted and harvested at the same time. We’ve discussed it on a few different episodes in the past, including episode 10 of season one with Lana Shaw, episode 6 of season two with Tony Wagner, and in a special intercropping bonus episode. Intercropping provides benefits such as disease suppression, dry down, and harvestability in some cases. As with everything, it’s going to be very dependent on your situation, but Clair does see potential with the chickpea/flax and the canola/pea intercrop combinations specifically. 

“If we can reduce the need for fungicide use, reduce the number of fungicide applications, that's probably the fastest way to reduce chickpea cost of production or at least that I'm aware of.” - Dr. Clair Keene

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Dr. Clair Keene assistant professor and agronomist at North Dakota State University
• Explore her research involving intercropping with pulse crops and best practices for disease management and ease of harvest
• Discover additional considerations with regard to organic production

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Dr. Miranda Meehan is the Livestock Environmental Stewardship Specialist with North Dakota State University Extension. Her work primarily deals with grazing management and the balance between our environment and our livestock. 

In this episode we talk about making rotations of livestock and pulse crops work. Specifically, we’ll cover the role of pulses in full season cover crops, the considerations of incorporating cattle into crop rotations, and we’ll also get into some of the biggest questions about cattle and crops like compaction, stocking rates and forage quality. 

“I think the most common thing we see people do in starting with cover crops is those winter cereals because that's an easy way to get into it and it doesn't interrupt our cropping system much.… That's a really good source for grazing, getting animals out for a little earlier grazing than we would if we had to wait for pastures to be ready.” - Dr. Miranda Meehan

Dr. Meehan suggests basing your cover crop selections on your overall goals for production. Different factors such as grazing, haying, and cost of seed can all affect that decision. In addition to watching costs and nutritional balance, timing is also very important. For example,  in a frost situation legumes will lose their quality, but brassicas will be able to maintain. But, she says pulses, peas in particular, can be a great fit in full season cover crop mixes. 

“In terms of our pulses, I think the best fit in a grazing situation is our field or forage peas. They are very affordable. They're under 50 cents a pound. And so, if we don't have something established, you don't feel bad about it. You're not out a lot and that lowers that risk.…..It's a cool season. It starts growth nice and early. We actually have seen regrowth on it when we graze it.” -Dr. Miranda Meehan

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Dr. Miranda Meehan is the Livestock Environmental Stewardship Specialist with North Dakota State University Extension.
• Discover the benefits pulses can offer to grazing operations
• Explore the different options and considerations for full season cover crops

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

First generation farmer Nate Powell-Palm shares his inspiring story of starting his farming career at the age of 12 and adding pulses to his grain and livestock rotation. 

Nate is located near Bozeman Montana and currently farms organic pulse crops, oilseeds, cereals, and livestock. Beginning on his parent’s ten acres in 2004, Nate now farms around 1,000 acres spread across 12 different landlords. He also serves on the National Organic Standards Board and has been an organic inspector for about ten years where he has visited over 3,000 farms across 44 states.  

In this episode, we talk about his story of getting started in farming, what his organic production system looks like, how his picture ended up on the box of Annie’s Mac N Cheese, and what he has learned from others on his farming journey. 

“General Mills, owner of Annie's Mac N Cheese, developed a product saying we're going to make it with one-third yellow pea flour. And they said, Nate, you want to grow some yellow peas? And I'd never grown yellow peas, but I'm like, I'll try anything. And it just ended up being this super good fit for my region.” - Nate Powell-Palm

Nate has grown his operation and maintained it with an organic certification. He has found success in having a diverse production profile and that has included pulse crops. By incorporating pulses he has appreciated better soil health, improved soil fertility, better yields and an effective natural weed control. 

“What I've learned through not only farming, but organic farming especially, is diversity pays. And so if you're going to be at all a producer you'll want to have more than just one stream of income.” -Nate Powell-Palm

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Nate Powell-Palm, an organic farmer in Montana
• Discover the journey that led Nate to becoming a producer and organic inspector
• Explore what introduced pulse crops into his rotation and the value he has observed from using them
• The Dirt on Organic Farming Podcast
• Farmer Feature: Nate Powell-Palm by the Montana Organic Association

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

**Take our audience survey: https://bit.ly/GPCsurvey2021

In this episode, we’ll talk about some of the unique challenges pulse growers are facing this year with the hot and dry weather, how these conditions could impact yield and quality, what tools Canadian pulse growers are using for harvest aids, and information on some alternative harvest approaches like using swathing and stripper headers.

We’re joined by Dale Risula and John Ippolito, both with the Ministry of Agriculture in Saskatchewan, Canada. Dale Risula you may remember from episode nine of last season talking about Canadian pulses. He’s the provincial specialist for pulse crops and special crops, and has been with the ministry since 1982. John Ippolito is a crops extension specialist in west central Saskatchewan, which is a large pulse growing area including lentils, chickpeas, and field peas. John spends most of his time working directly with growers on management practices. Dale starts our conversation off with a very timely and relevant topic for a lot of pulse growers throughout North America: the dryness and heat of this season, and how that will impact yield and quality. 

“I think first and foremost, the biggest impact that this is going to have is the effect on yield. Yield is likely to be down from the average for much of the province. We're not sure exactly where quality might end up just yet. Some of the grains themselves might be slightly lower than the average per bushel weight. They're also going to be subject to chipping in the dryer during harvest as they're handled with various equipment.” - Dale Risula

Beyond quality and yield deficits, Dale recommends extra attention be paid to dust control and fire hazards to create a safe working environment for producers. He also suggests extra precautions be taken post-harvest in regards to handling in order to prevent over drying and seed coat crackage. Elevated temperatures in the grains also may result in sweating that creates moisture pockets and leads to spoilage. Targeted cutting times, adjusting equipment and regulating the grain temperature are all measures that can be taken to mitigate these effects. John offers help to manage grain storage with proper handling, cooling and drying.

“Our recommendation to them would be to get it into a natural air bin. Col it down as quickly as possible to 15 degrees Celsius or probably about 60 degrees Fahrenheit because storage at those kinds of temperatures, even if they're dry is not going to go well.” - John Ippolito

Harvest aids and desiccants can and have been used to promote uniform dry down. There are area specific regulations for these products that all producers need to be aware of. To learn more about MRLs around the world, listen to episode 11 of this season with Todd Scholz. John added that although diquat is still the primary tool, there have in fact been a few new options for harvest aids that have also hit the market.  

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Dale Risula and John Ippolito, both with the Ministry of Agriculture in Saskatchewan, Canada
• Discover the best practices for pulse crop handling during a particularly hot and dry year
• Explore the different considerations and options available to producers by way of harvest aid and desiccants as well as options for organic operations

We want to hear from you! Take our audience survey!

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

**Take our audience survey: https://bit.ly/GPCsurvey2021

Today’s episode focuses on where pulses fit into a cattle ration. Some growers may be considering haying peas, lentils or chickpeas as a supplement to their nutrition program due to the drought conditions. We also talk about how pulse crops work from a relative value standpoint.

We are joined by Dr. Zac Carlson, the North Dakota State University Extension Beef Cattle Specialist based in Fargo. He just recently started in that position in June after finishing a masters and Ph.D. at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln focused on ruminant nutrition. 

“I think pulse crops have a very unique and distinct place when it comes to livestock feed. They certainly provide a high quality forage and a high protein grain that I think has a lot of value in the livestock industry.” - Zac Carlson, Ph.D.

This year’s severity of drought combined with low hay production has created a scarcity in forage for livestock. Some producers are decreasing their herd size to lighten the nutritional requirements for their operation but Dr. Carlson offers an additional option. Pulse crops can provide 20-25% crude protein as well as some additional energy as part of a livestock ration and so can be used as forage. Their unique abilities for nitrogen fixation do need to be taken into account before they are integrated into a ration. 

“Nitrates are our concern when it comes to grazing pulse crops. So it's just something to be aware of. It's definitely manageable...Having a light stocking rate helps with that as well as not grazing when the forage is wet….and making sure your cattle aren't hungry when they go out to these fields. ” - Zac Carlson, Ph.D.

Dr. Carlson highlights that when pulse crops are stressed, for example in a drought or unexpected frost, nitrate levels may be increased. He encourages anyone interested in grazing pulse crops to contact their county extension and discuss sending a sample of the pulse crop off for nitrate analysis. Increased levels can be managed but knowing the level of concern is very helpful.

“Obviously there's a valuable product there. And I really think considering how some of these might fit into a livestock diet and work through that are something pulse crop producers should consider.” - Zac Carlson, Ph.D.

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Dr. Zac Carlson, the North Dakota State University Extension Beef Cattle Specialist
• Explore the uses of pulse crops as a forage or grazing supplement for livestock producers
• Learn the special considerations producers should consider before using them in their ration

We want to hear from you! Take our audience survey!

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

In today’s episode we talk about what’s being developed in terms of pulse varieties for pest and disease resistance, winter hardiness for fall-sown pulses, and what it takes to bring new varieties to the market. Rebecca McGee, Ph.D. joins us to discuss her work on developing varieties of spring-sown peas and lentils, autumn-sown peas, lentils and chickpeas. Dr. McGee is a research geneticist (aka plant breeder) with the USDA-ARS Grain Legume Genetics and Physiology Research Unit located at Washington State University in Pullman, WA. She has worked for the USDA-ARS since 2009, and before that time she spent 13 years with General Mills as a vegetable pea breeder. 

Dr. McGee says one of the things she loves most about her job is developing varieties that are unique, nutritious for the consumer, and well-suited for the environment that the farmers will be growing them in. This last part includes developing resistance to pests and diseases.

“The mission of the ARS is to help America's farmers and the way I can do that is to develop varieties that they can reliably grow year in and year out, regardless of what disease and pest issues they face.” - Rebecca McGee, Ph.D. 

She does want to be clear that developing the varieties is just one part of the complicated process of getting new varieties to farmers to grow. It’s of the utmost importance to have communication from everyone involved, especially when it comes to farmers offering feedback on the genetics they’re needing.

“The concept of it takes a village to raise a child, really applies to plant breeding too. It takes a village to create a new (plant) variety. As breeders, we know the genetics, but we rely on plant pathologists, on agronomists, on soil scientists, and a whole range of other scientists to help us in the development process.” - Rebecca McGee, Ph.D.

Producers play a role in her efforts by helping to identify what obstacles and yield limiting traits they are facing. “If it becomes apparent that the stakeholders need resistance to a new disease, it's relatively easy to go to the germplasm collection and search the collection for accessions that are resistant to the disease.” The process only begins with a need from the producer.

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Dr. Rebecca McGee, a research geneticist (aka plant breeder) with the USDA-ARS Grain Legume Genetics and Physiology Research Unit located at Washington State University in Pullman, WA
• Explore the many steps involved in creating and producing new varieties of crops for producers
• Discover the goals and efforts made by plant breeders on behalf of producers

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

On today’s episode we talk pulse crop quality standards and how residues and MRLs play a role in perceived quality from buyers and consumers around the world. Todd Scholz, vice president for research and member services at the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council, joins us to discuss some of the nuances of MRLs (maximum residue limits) and what growers need to know to deal with the complex standards that exist in different global markets. He has been with the Lentil Council for over 20 years and provides great insight into navigating MRL’s and international trade.

“As countries are becoming more involved in international trade, they're establishing their own registration authorities and that's becoming a mosaic of different MRLs at different levels across the world which makes trade more complicated and makes our job as farmers more difficult.” - Todd Scholz

In order to ensure quality when it comes to residues, countries establish tolerances or maximum residue limits. This is becoming an increasingly important part of producing quality pulses for the global market because there are different approaches to determining these standards. The trend is for these requirements to become increasingly more strict. So how are growers supposed to adjust to these constraints? Todd recommends communicating with your processor, following the labels to the tee, and being keenly aware of the potential for drift. 

"It is important to our production practices to be able to use chemical pesticides, but there is an increasing concern across the world for the use of those pesticides. And you can see it in the way the registering authorities are enforcing their MRL’s. They're reducing the MRL standards, eliminating them or establishing a level of detection so that even a drift accident can cause a shipment to be rejected. The cost to that is huge.” - Todd Scholz

Despite all of the complex dynamics at play here with quality and MRLs, the most important take home is to develop that good relationship with your buyer to make sure they know what they’re getting and you know how you can maximize your revenue from your crop and the way you produce it. 

“We’re working really hard to try and harmonize MRL’s and make it as trade friendly as we can, but it's a complicated process and we need the help of our producers. ” - Todd Scholz

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Todd Scholz, vice president for research and member services at the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council
• Explore the nuances involved in MRL regulations and the consequences of not working within them
• Discover the advice he gives producers to ensure their product has a market

You can reach Todd and learn more about industry programs at the USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council website: www.USApulses.org

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Dr. Syama Chatterton is a research scientist with Agriculture and AgriFood Canada in Lethbridge, Alberta. For the past 10 years, Dr. Chatterton’s work has focused on soilborne diseases and root rot pathogens of pulses. Today’s episode focuses on the tools Dr. Chatterton and her colleagues are developing to more accurately and efficiently test for disease presence in soils for pathogens like aphanomyces and fusarium. The idea behind these tools they are developing is to lower the risk for farmers, make it easier to get information about this disease presence, and allow them to make more data-driven decisions about what to plant and when. 

“If you grow a pea or lentil crop, and then you notice that you have a root rot issue in your field one year, our recommendation now is to stay out of that field for at least six to eight years….So that's why we're trying to develop some tools so that producers can test their soils, get an idea of what pathogens are in their soils, the quantity of pathogens in their soils, and then know whether its safe to plant peas or lentils again.” - Dr. Syama Chatterton

With a small sample, they are able to identify whether or not that targeted disease, such as the “root rot complex,” is present in a farmer’s soil. So essentially they are counting the detectable DNA to quantify the oospores of that pathogen in the soil. The hope is that this will lead to the ability to quantify the amount of disease presence in a soil in a timely manner, and start to establish thresholds to help a farmer determine when they should and should not plant. Ultimately, the hope is that farmers, when armed with the data from these tools, will be able to manage these diseases in a way that allows them to keep pulses in a regular rotation without proliferating the presence of these pathogens over time. 

“If you're considering planting peas in that field and you want to know, am I going to be at a risk for root rot? Then you can go on and collect samples in the spring prior to planting.” - Dr. Syama Chatterton

With something like this that is able to use such a small soil sample, the sampling technique is extremely important to make sure the results are representative and actionable. At present, the protocol includes sampling at 10 sites and testing each of them separately to look for pathogens. Dr. Chatterton highlights that the results are only as valuable as the samples that have been collected. Low spots, water tracks or areas of decreased yield are the best places to focus your sampling. Identifying different species of pathogens and developing threshold values for producers to know how to use the results is an ongoing process.

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Dr. Syama Chatterton, a research scientist with Agriculture and AgriFood Canada in Lethbridge, Alberta. 
• Explore the tools she is developing to identify the risk of disease based on soil genetic testing
• Discover the process she is using to assess these soils and the benefits they may provide pulse crop producers

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

In this episode we meet Dr. Jenny Davidson, a pulse pathologist at South Australian Research Institute, or SARDI, in Adelaide, South Australia. Dr. Davidson works on diseases of lentils, chickpeas, field peas, and fava beans. She leads a team of a number of scientists and technicians working to keep pulse diseases under control in Australia. In 25 years of doing this work with pulse crops, she has seen diseases and genetic resistance to those diseases come and go. She shares about efforts to combat these pulse diseases, especially ascochyta, and the unified effort in Australia to find effective ways to manage them. 

“We started out and still do really have a big focus on ascochyta because each of these crops have their own version of ascochyta blight. And in a rain fed growing system, this has a major impact on the crops.” - Dr. Jenny Davidson

Dr. Davidson shares that chickpeas became popular in Australia in the 1990’s. The varieties used were susceptible to ascochyta blight leading to the loss of whole crops. The industry only began to grow again once resistant varieties were used. Unfortunately, some of those varieties that had demonstrated resistance for 10 years began showing susceptibility.  Producers are now having to use multiple fungicide spray applications and consider the additional costs in order to make up for this adaptation. 

“What the Australian researchers have done in investigating the pathology of ascochyta rabiei in chickpeas is looking at the population variability of that pathogen, because obviously if you put out resistant types, you’re then putting a selection pressure on the pathogen to create types that can overcome that resistance. So we need to understand what the pathogen is doing.” - Dr. Jenny Davidson

Dr. Davidson’s research has identified that the ascochyta they are facing in chickpeas only reproduces in Australia asexually. Generally this leads to a reduction in the pathogens ability to adapt to resistant varieties but somehow the ascochyta has overcome this and made itself very difficult to manage for producers. The programs to investigate this are coordinated around Australia and the world to isolate the genetic sequences responsible for susceptibility and resistance.  

“What we're hoping is that the resistance that we can get into adapted backgrounds then is handed over to the national breeding programs to get it into something that farmers will really want to grow. So it's a complete “beginning to end” program to try and cover off on the whole thing” - Dr. Jenny Davidson

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Dr. Jenny Davidson, a pulse pathologist at South Australian Research Institute, or SARDI, in Adelaide, South Australia
• Explore the efforts being made to manage pulse crop diseases in Australia and the obstacles researchers are working to overcome
• Discover what the research focus is to establish ascochyta management on both a national and international basis

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Charlie Cahill developed his knowledge of dryland farming during the 1990s, ultimately becoming what one nominator called “the go-to guy” for information on agronomic practices and seed genetics in the region. A graduate of Montana State University, Cahill has served on the board of the Montana Seed Growers Association and helped create the pulse checkoff program in Montana, which allows growers a voice in how their contributions are invested around the state.

“Farmers traditionally have been used to being able to keep and trade their own seed amongst other growers, and this has been going on (for) an exceptional amount of time. Well, if you don't have money to actually go into the breeding programs, you don't get new stuff. And if you look at all of the crops that have money in them: corn, canola, soybeans. We spend a lot of money for the seed, but at the same time, you'll notice we also get really neat stuff.” - Charlie Cahill

Cahill joins the show to talk about the current state of the seed industry in Montana, some inside information on the seed business and what’s driving seed choices, and trying to bring together market demand and producer needs into a valuable and profitable seed technology. 

“The demand right now is far outstripping the supply on (lentil) seed.  We are probably one of the largest sellers of lentil seed in the United States and we're sold out at the moment, and our production was okay. So that gives you an idea.” - Charlie Cahill

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Charlie Cahill of Cahill Seeds, and learn about the history of pulse seed production in Montana
• Learn about some of the drivers of pulse crop seed development
• Hear more about what buyers of pulses are looking for in genetics in the future
• Discover what it’s like be an independent seed producer

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Dave Oien is the Founding Farmer and President of Timeless Seeds. In this episode he reflects on decades of organic pulse crop production, breeding, handling, and marketing. He helped to pioneer the US market for growing pulses as an organic cash crop, then began selling seed to other farmers, and ultimately has grown a business of selling lentils, chickpeas, and other crops to consumers around the world. Dave’s story was even captured in a book called “Lentil Underground”. 

“These lentils are absolutely nutritious food, great for our livestock, good for our rotations, good for our farming practices, and as luck would have it, the organic industry was really kind of starting to get some legs. So the markets were expanding and we discovered that in fact, there was a need in the food market for certified organic lentils and peas.” - Dave Oien

Dave shares what it took to figure out how to grow some of these crops organically, how he has built and evolved his business over the years, and why he prefers the term resiliency over sustainability. Dave doesn’t recommend the cold-turkey approach to transitioning to organic that he took. He shares that it came with some lessons from the school of hard knocks. He quickly learned that in order to make an organic system work it was going to have to start with healthier soil and he would need to find sources of organic nitrogen. 

“The more I read, the more I learned, the more I practiced, the more it seemed like, wow, we need to change the way we do things both to meet the growing market, but also just to pay greater attention to the health of the soil.” - Dave Oien

His organic lentils were discovered by “a relatively small chain store” at the time called Trader Joe’s. That connection at a trade show led to a long term relationship that expanded Dave’s market especially as Trader Joe’s also expanded their reach. Dave now also sells his products in other natural food stores, to the restaurant industry, to stores that cater to bulk orders and ships them internationally. 

“The organic food market is a worldwide phenomenon with a worldwide demand. You gotta learn how to grow it, to meet the organic specifications and to be successful doing it, but the processing and marketing infrastructure is increasingly available.”   - Dave Oien

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Dave Oien is the Founding Farmer and President of Timeless Seeds reflects on decades of organic pulse crop production, breeding, handling, and marketing. 
• Discover how and why Dave was introduced to pulse crops and how his business has developed over the years

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

In this episode, Dr. Clare Coyne, curator of the USDA cool season food legume collection in Pullman, Washington gives us a really fascinating look into this extensive collection. You’ll hear how the collection is curated, preserved and utilized to continue to provide high quality seed to researchers, and ultimately to farmers. The seeds are stored under refrigeration and controlled humidity as part of a combined state and USDA effort. Under ideal conditions, they could store as long as 100 years. 

Dr. Coyne has worked at the station for 25 years and has been in her current role since 1998. She's responsible for over 22,000 accessions of peas, lentils, chickpeas and fava beans. This collection serves as the genetic resources available to breeders and researchers to develop new varieties of pulse crops.

“Plant genetic resources are a guarantee that we can continue to improve the farmgate value of that harvested crop.” - Dr. Clare Coyne

The program for maintaining our crops' genetic resources is not new. The United States has been collecting seeds for crops of interest since the founding fathers. “We can look at the USDA system as the gold standard for plant genetic resources in the world.” There are other extensive collections in stations located in Mexico, Morocco and India to name a few. But these collections don’t just exist for academic or historical purposes. They serve a very important role in making sure that breeders have the genetic material they need to develop varieties that continue to meet the needs of growers. 

“If we're presented with a new disease or a disease that in the past wasn't a problem and all of a sudden becomes a problem, then we need these breeding resources.” - Dr. Clare Coyne

Dr. Coyne offers root rot resistant genetics as a more recent need among producers. Cultivars for this ability were screened in the gene bank and are likely to make a difference for the growers. Fortunately, these collections continue to expand with a big focus being put on wild relative varieties of current crops. “We're realizing that the genetic reserve that's held in these crop wild relatives is very key to future progress made in our crops and not just on diseases, but also on yield components and nutritional components.” Once collected, Dr. Coyne and her colleagues grow these lines out in the field and collect data. That data is available online to researchers of all kinds wanting to utilize these genetics. 

“Kind of a bottom line for growers is we can rely on a genetic answer so that when you plant that cultivar you already have a package where you're ahead of the game. If there is drought tolerance, if there is heat tolerance, if there is disease resistance in the genetics of that cultivar that you're planting, then that's an additional production cost that you don't have to bear.” Dr. Clare Coyne

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

For the past 15 years, Tony Wagner has been on a journey to improve the soil health of his farmland, which runs the gamut from sandy to high clay. He’s located about 100 miles west of Fargo, so farther east than a lot of the North Dakota pulse growers, but he says they’ve worked well in his rotation. Tony shares how he got into pulses, why he’s stuck with them, how they fit into building soil health, and a really interesting project of planting peas with flax as a companion crop to try to keep them off the ground. Tony also talks about attempting two crops of peas in the same field. While the second crop succumbed to unexpected weather conditions, he was impressed with the benefit to the soil despite not having a harvestable second pea crop.

“The next year we put spring wheat on that ground and we pulled off on that type of soil, which is a very light soil, probably the best wheat that we've ever pulled off. And we did a soil test on it and the nitrogen was pretty high on that soil. So we decided to slowly start working into cover crops.” - Tony Wagner

Tony has continued to experiment with cover crops including with different varieties to see what provides the most benefit to his operation. Along with nitrogen benefits, he has observed much less wind and water erosion, improvement in areas of high salinity and better water infiltration. Tony admits that the benefits aren’t always easy to pencil and can take years to accumulate the advantages they offer. With decreased water requirements, decreased inputs and improved soil health, he is hooked and will continue his journey with cover crops and pulse crops. 

“From where I started off at, I wish I would have taken a picture. It literally didn't feel like we were getting anywhere at all. That was the biggest eye-opener. And now, I've got that drive to just keep doing what we're doing because visually it's working.” - Tony Wagner

One of the more recent practices Tony has been using was incorporating flax as a companion crop in with his field peas. He chose flax since the pre-emergence chemicals used are the same as field peas and would allow him to not spray anything after emergence. Field peas were prioritized at seeding with depths and rates optimized for their production. The flax companion crop did work and helped the peas stand but unfortunately the flax grew too well and would not die at time of harvest while the peas did. Tony says he would like to attempt this trial again but will look at different varieties going forward to see if the maturity timing can be better coordinated.

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Tony Wagner is a North Dakota farmer who joins us to explain his journey into pulse and cover crops
• Discover the many benefits Tony has been able to realize on his operation with these practices
• Explore the many varieties Tony has tried and what has been most successful for him

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Dr. Alan McKay joins us all the way from Australia, to talk about some exciting work they are doing to measure various soil microbes including pathogens and beneficial rhizobia. 

Dr McKay is the Leader of the Soil Biology and Molecular Diagnostics group at the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI). He is committed to not only studying soil-borne diseases and other aspects of soil biology, but also developing tools for growers to manage this biology in their operations. He has played a major role in the development of the PREDICTA® B soil analysis technology, which is now recognised internationally for its capacity to accurately identify and measure soil pathogens, as well as the nutrition status of soils. We’re going to talk a lot more about this technology in today’s episode.

“The thing we’re doing now with the PREDICTA® B technology is starting to look at some of the beneficial organisms. So rhizobium for pulses...which is the rhizobia that modulate lentils, field pea and fava bean. Then using that we launched it as a provisional service just in South Australia and Victoria this year to identify paddocks where you don't need to inoculate the pulse crop. In Australia, the growers don't like applying their innoculates to the pulse crops. Most reliable methods have to be done just before seeding them and it's a task they prefer not to do. So we think this is going to work pretty well.” - Dr. Alan McKay

After sampling 850 paddocks they have identified 400 species to allow his group to map the growth of pathogens across the country. One unexpected discovery was that prior to this survey it was assumed there was one Phytophthora species with the potential for causing major harm to pulse crops. Now they have identified three separate species and can better isolate their locality and the tools to better identify them. At the moment, they are focusing on identifying more common pathogens going forward that, while not as catastrophic as Phtyophtora, can reduce yield by up to 20% and are therefore also significant.

“PREDICTA® B is a collection of what we call qPCR tests.” Dr McKay remarks that it is easy to quality control, scalable and offers great insight for growers and researchers alike. Currently the majority of their testing has focused on cereal crops but they are readily expanding into pulse crops.

“The potential now with pulses is that we could look at packaging tests for key pathogens and the rhizobium and identify whether a paddock is a good option for that crop and whether you need to inoculate.” - Dr. McKay

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Dr. Alan McKay the Leader of the Soil Biology and Molecular Diagnostics group at the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI).
• Discover the progress his efforts and research are accomplishing in supporting pulse growers in Australia using DNA technologies like PREDICTA® B
• Learn the benefits to this line of technology and the advantages it can provide to producers in inputs, variety selection and for monitoring of pathogen spread

Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.