This article appeared in the Summer 2014 issue of Pulse Crop News.

Leanne Fischbuch, Executive Director

Pulse crops are in the ground and growers’ thoughts are headed to monitoring for disease and pests, and maybe a camping trip to the lake with the family. While summer may include vacation for some, this is one of the busiest times for Alberta Pulse Growers staff. We are planning APG’s crop tour schedule and travelling across the province to visit demonstration plots, regional variety trials, and share information with growers. This is one of the most valuable ways that we interact with the growers and learn about their concerns. When you see the Alberta Pulse logo shirts identifying the staff, say “Hi” and tell us about your pulse crop – we’d love to hear about it.

This year, APG is anticipating more than one million acres of pulses again and we know there are producers growing pulse crops for the first time. We’d like to encourage experienced pulse producers to share wisdom about the crop with newer growers. Your knowledge and familiarity with pulse crops will help with questions from beginner growers and help to improve their confidence and understanding about their pulse crop experience. Passing on the knowledge is a way to build the industry, so please do your part.

In addition to APG staff being out crop walking and sharing knowledge at this time of the year, in the Summer Pulse Crop News (PCN) issue APG is revealing information about crop scouting and very important information about maximum residue limits (MRL). Crop scouting for disease is something that must be done with an eye to economics, and producers must consider when it is still profitable to apply controls. With MRLs, APG cannot stress enough the importance of knowing your market and knowing the MRL limits when producers are preparing to do pre-harvest management.

A key piece of information outlines our latest knowledge around market access and MRL restrictions for the current crop year on page 14. Staying connected to us will be important, and as the regulatory environment changes on MRLs we will also be ‘Tweeting’ updates through @APGSydney and @AlbertaPulse.

Getting involved with APG as a Commissioner can help a grower fully appreciate the scope and impact our industry has around the globe. Growers often don’t think of the rest of the world outside of our borders. Vice President Allison Ammeter had the opportunity in May to attend the international pulse convention – CICILS IPTIC – and reports back to the membership on her experience and the impression she now has about the pulse industry and its global trade on page 33.

The Summer PCN also focuses on research. Investment into research is one of the highest priority activities that APG does for our growers. Brief summaries of our research projects are provided on pages 24 through 32. This showcases agronomic research, pulse breeding, marketing projects and demonstration investment that APG has partnered on and supported. Our research investments have been substantial over the past five years where every dollar that is invested from growers is matched by 11 others from our various partners. Twenty-five years ago when APG became a Commission it was a bit of a different story. One of the early Vice Presidents of APG (and Chair of the Research Committee at the time), Craig Shaw, shared his take on research then and now and I am happy to report that APG is continuing to build on grower investment for the benefit of the industry and address many pressing questions from both yesterday and today.

Priority discussions on transportation continue and Bill C-30 the Fair Rail for Farmers Act has progressed through Parliament. UPOV’91 information is also shared with growers in this issue. APG stands with other grower groups supporting the ratification of the policy and we remain actively involved on many fronts sharing information with key stakeholders and supporting the work of Pulse Canada and Grain Growers of Canada to move these important issues forward.

Coming to a field near you, APG staff are looking forward to visiting with growers and the trade as we traverse Alberta’s highways. Have a terrific summer.