This article appeared in the Fall 2013 issue of Pulse Crop News.

The Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) has launched its Harvest Sample Program for 2013. The program is voluntary but can be a value to growers interested in learning more about their grain grade and quality. By signing up growers can find out about:

• Protein content on cereal grains and pulses
• Oil, protein, and chlorophyll content for canola
• Oil and protein content and iodine value for flaxseed
• Oil and protein for mustard seed and soybeans

While the grade given is not considered ‘official’ because of sample size, dockage and the sample was not collected by an inspector, the information can still be valuable for growers.

Information collected in the program also supports the following:

Marketing Canadian Grain

Samples are combined with other samples and further analysis is conducted. Crop quality data is refined and provided to marketers who can promote the sale of Canadian grain. It is a confirmation of Canada’s ability to deliver consistent, high-quality grain yearly.

Evaluation of Grain Grades

Samples provide the CGC with material to evaluate effectiveness of grain grading factors and helps determine if changes are needed. Changes can mean revising grading to reflect processing factors or protect the quality reputation of Canadian grain. Samples also provide information to determine the standard samples used to grade grain for that year.

Researching Grain Issues that Affect Pulses

Your samples contribute to scientific grain research. The Grain Research Laboratory uses the samples to better understand issues with the grains. An example is the work towards understanding copper-coloured and bleached seeds in red-lentil and how these factors affect processing. In addition, the samples also provide a better understanding of how immature seeds affect processing and quality with immature yellow peas. Information gathered helps ensure Canada’s grading standards continue to meet your needs and needs of the grain industry.

For more information on the program visit: https://www.grainscanada.gc.ca/quality-qualite/hsp-per/hspm-mper-eng.htm or call the Canadian Grain Commission at 1-800-853-6705 or 204-983-2978. Samples are accepted up to November but producers are encouraged to send in samples as soon as harvest is complete.

This article appeared in the Fall 2013 issue of Pulse Crop News.

Sarah Weigum

You basically had to be living under a rock (or maybe in Palm Springs) last winter not to hear about faba beans – the pulse family’s new “it girl.” From FarmTech in Edmonton to production meetings at the local hall, everyone was talking about this legume that has been cultivated for thousands of years but is experiencing a surge of popularity in Western Canada.

If the faba bean had an online dating profile, it would probably read something like this: “I’m a great catch who loves to fix my own nitrogen. I’m big on protein, and there’s nothing I like better than to stand up tall right until harvest time.” But what you might not find out until the third or fourth date is that she tends to be tardy, getting to the harvest party up to a month later than your old steady, the field pea.

A number of producers around the province (including yours truly) took the plunge and asked fabas to the dance this year. Here’s what we learned.

I first heard about faba beans at an Alberta Pulse Growers meeting in November 2012. A discussion with fellow seed grower, Dennis Benci of Benci Seeds in Carmangay, prompted further research into the crop. I learned that there are high-tannin varieties that are preferred by human consumers in foreign markets, but are not very digestible by animals, as well as low or no-tannin varieties that are better suited for the feed market. Like other pulse crops, faba beans fix their own nitrogen through a symbiotic relationship with soil bacteria. They leave nitrogen in the soil after they are harvested, so can provide savings on fertilizer both in the year they are grown and the year following.

Pulses are a familiar site on our farm at Three Hills. My dad grew his first 12 acre plot of yellow peas in 1990, and we’ve benefited from having a pulse crop in our rotation ever since. Genetics have improved in the last 30 years, and on an average year, a well-managed pea crop is fairly easy to combine, with their early maturity spreading out the harvest work load. However, there are still years when, either due to weather, disease, or both, the vines go flat on the ground, and we combine a few rocks with our peas. These difficult years scare away many growers, and although peas are a large part of our retail seed business, we still have many customers who will not grow them.

Thick-stalked faba beans stand tall. I’ve travelled around central Alberta this summer checking out bean fields, and to my eyes, there is no such things as a lodged faba bean. We hope that the standability of this crop encourages more farmers to grow pulses.

Alex Bickely, a Sylvan Lake-area farmer, is counting on this good standability. I caught up with him at his faba field in mid-August and almost got lost in the six-foot high crop. All the plants were upright, although there was some moulding of pods right on the plant. Alex said this was one of his wetter quarters, so that explains the height of the fabas, which seems to vary greatly depending on the amount of moisture the plants receive. If the beans combine well, Alex hopes that fabas will become a regular part of his crop rotation.

“We had to learn how to grow something other than canola,” said Alex, who wants to extend his rotation from the cereal-canola duo.

Not too far from Alex, Michael and Allison Ammeter planted a field of fabas, optimistic that the crop would fit their farm as well.

“We had a buyer that encouraged us to plant [fabas], saying they would buy the harvest,” explained Allison. “Plus we like to try new things that look promising for our conditions.”

These conditions normally include lots of rain, which can lead to drown-out in peas. Unfortunately for the Ammeters, a June 29 hail storm hit their beans. While experienced faba bean growers and pulse specialists agreed that the beans would not mature given this setback, the Ammeters decided to leave the crop as is and see what happened.

“We were amazed at how the plants went from leafless sticks to ‘palm trees’–sticks with masses of leaves and blossoms on top — to healthy, but very late, plants. All the way, they were nodulating beautifully,” said Allison.

By late-August, their fabas were short, but it wasn’t hard to find plants with almost as many pods as un-hailed stands. Michael and Allison debated whether to silage the crop or plow it down, but after looking at other faba crops in their area, they decided to let the beans mature, hoping for 30 to 40 bushels per acre.

Elsewhere in the province, growing conditions have been very favourable, and faba beans were doing well late into the summer. Paul Wipf, farm boss at Viking Colony, described growing conditions in his region as some of the best he’s ever seen, and his 350 acres of faba beans were quite tall, with lots of pods. Paul first heard about faba beans from the nutritionist who advises the colony on livestock feed.

“I take an overall view of the farm here,” said Paul. “I’m not just a grain farmer. That’s why we grow corn for the dairy and the feedlot.”  With the high price of soymeal, Paul sees faba beans as an alternative feed source for their hogs.

“Faba beans can have as much as 29 per cent protein, where peas max out at 21 to 22 per cent,” said Paul. “I did the cost of protein energy, and faba beans, based on unit of protein per tonne, have a value of $30 per metric tonne more than peas.”

Like many other producers, Paul also sees the benefit of diversifying his crop rotation with a crop that should be easier to harvest than field peas. If harvest goes well, he expects to increase his faba bean acreage next year to give him more options in his rotation.

One challenge presented by faba beans that pea growers have not faced is their larger seed size. Faba beans can be two to three times larger than yellow peas, depending on the variety. Snowbirds, which are the lowtannin variety grown by Alex, the Ammeters, Paul, and me, are one of the smaller varieties, but even so, other growers cautioned me about using the paired-row opener on my drill to seed the beans. Paul had a similar concern about the openers on his Seed Hawk drill, so he decided to place the seed using the wider fertilizer opening. On our farm, we succeeded in using the openers we had without any plugging.

A little farther north of Paul, Zolton Yaremie is another first-time faba bean grower. A presentation on fabas by Mark Olson at FarmTech in January 2013 piqued his interest. His biggest challenge so far was locating seed. He spent hours searching for a seed supplier, eventually traveling to southern Alberta to buy Snowbird seed. I talked to several faba bean seed producers, and they all said they sold out in February or March, many with many orders that couldn’t be filled due to high demand.

Greg Stamp, seed grower near Enchant, has produced seed of both Snowbirds and a high-tannin variety destined for the export market for 10 years. His sales were up this year with more interest from new growers than in previous years.

“The marketing of faba beans was always the problem,” said Greg. Growers wanted to be sure they could sell their production, but buyers needed to know there was a steady supply in the market before they would commit to purchasing high volumes. A concerted market development effort by some producers and grain handling companies, including SaskCan Pulse Trading and Parkland Alberta Commodities in Innisfail, has opened new doors.

“I think the marketing [of faba beans] has gotten better, allowing growers confidence to grow and sell the crop,” explained Greg. He worked with SaskCan Pulse to provide his seed customers with production contracts for the high-tannin variety known as FB 9-4.

Noel Flitton farms with his dad and brother near Vulcan. They were looking for a pulse to grow on their irrigated land, and the FB 9-4 variety seemed like a good fit. While most faba growers I know (myself included) did not apply fungicide, irrigation farmers like Noel often opt for a fungicide application. In Noel’s case, he applied Lance through his irrigation system.

Like other pulses, inoculants should be placed with faba bean seed to ensure that the nitrogen-fixing rhizobia are close to the developing root. As of spring 2013, the only registered faba bean inoculant was a self-stick peat that had to be applied right before seeding because there is a short window of viability for these bacteria once they are applied to treated seed. Noel had to re-inoculate some beans after having to put seeding on hold to replace worn out metering augers on his air cart. I almost forgot to inoculate the first cart load of seed entirely and had to empty the hopper and re-fill while shaking on the self-stick inoculant. Fortunately, a more stable granular inoculant is now registered for application with faba beans.

For weed control, registered products on faba beans include Odyssey DLX, Basagran, and Solo. On our farm, we used Odyssey DLX, there were some bronzed spots on the leaves after spraying but the plant seemed to grow out of it without any obvious long-term damage. Hopefully more research will follow as faba bean acreage increases.

In late August, harvest management was on the minds of the growers I interviewed. When I planted my fabas, I honestly didn’t know if I would need to desiccate or not. I knew dryland farmers south of the Trans-Canada who do not desiccate and faba producers farther north who normally do. Given the high rainfall we and most other areas of the province received, I can guarantee that a lot of acres will be desiccated this fall. As a seed grower, I opt to use desiccants like Reglone as opposed to glyphosate because glyphosate harms the germination potential of the seed.

Regardless of the product, Sheri Strydhorst of Alberta Agriculture recommends applying the desiccant when 80 to 90 per cent of the leaves have dropped off and pods are starting to mature. She also suggests farmers keep an eye on the calendar and the forecast. It is better to swath or desiccate than allow an early frost to reduce the quality of the beans. September 7 is a date to keep in mind for shutting down the plants.

We plan to straight cut our faba beans, and I had a number of people ask me to tell them when the combine is rolling so they can come see how it goes. When I asked experienced faba bean growers what they expect for yield, a common phrase I heard was “as good as peas or better.” My conservative estimate is 50 bushels per acre. My peas are already in the bin and did better than that, but I still theoretically have 20 days to wait before the beans are mature, so I don’t want to be too optimistic.

I’ve learned a lot growing faba beans and talking to other faba bean growers this year. If there’s one thing we did right on our farm this year (by pure luck), it was growing the faba beans next to the highway and putting a sign up. I’ve never had so many people stop by to check out a crop. It helps that they look so different from anything else grown in the area. As Noel said, “They looked really strange when they came up, and they still look really strange.”

My dad just says he wished he could grow something every year that would bring this much traffic in the yard. We have had several people tell us they want to book seed for next year, and hopefully, we can join the ranks of those sold-out faba bean seed growers. I’ll be publishing a post-harvest update in Grainews in November, and if you’re just hearing about faba beans for the first time now, keep your eyes and ears open as there are a lot more faba bean growers to talk to now than there was a year ago.

This article appeared in the Fall 2013 issue of Pulse Crop News.

In July, Alberta Pulse Growers’ Commissioners joined AFSC representatives for a meeting to discuss risk management topics important to pulse growers. Topics included an update on the current numbers for seeded acreage as of July 22, 2013, field pea versus feed pea coverage, updates around Agri-Stability and the rest of the Growing Forward 2 suite of programs, and a discussion about hail assessment stemming from the 2013 APG Annual General Meeting resolution.

Early expectations this spring were that pulse crops might see a decrease in the amount of seeded acres despite the very good pricing available to the marketplace. The expectation was that there would be fewer pea and lentil acres and perhaps decreased bean acres. The main anticipation of increased acres was in faba beans – due mostly to the compelling discussions over the fall in many zones across the province. The seeded acre data from AFSC was a pleasant surprise, though, as the total number of pulse crop acres has exceeded the 1 million mark again, with strong pea acre values, steady bean acres, and the expected increase in faba bean acreage.

“It is exciting to see the numbers that corroborate what growers have been seeing out the windows of their vehicles as they travel the highway – a lot of pulse crops,” says APG President Richard Krikke. “The harvest will also tell us a lot more, and hopefully, these crops will make it through to the market.”

Commissioners discussed the current 70:30 split between peas that are sold into the edible consumer market versus the feed market. APG has been successful in the past with moving this from 60:40 to the current value to better reflect the movement of peas over the past number of years into the food grade market. Growers are aiming for the higher grades and, more and more, are selling into the food market with less peas diverting into the feed market. Price has also played a role in this, with edible pea pricing providing upwards of a $2 gain. APG data suggests that the current split is even greater than 70:30, and APG continues to share information to pursue movement of this split.

Growing Forward 2 Risk Management programs have been in place since April 1, 2013, and with a few months of experience with them, the discussions focused on what the uptake has been for the programs. While there are still a number of growers remaining in the program, there are also a number who have opted out of the program. AFSC will begin assessing the programs and will be getting feedback on the suitability of the program so that it can be fed back to the federal government to tweak if necessary.

An important discussion for the meeting included learning more about hail assessment on pulse crops. Stemming from a resolution supported by the membership that stated that APG work with AFSC to develop an improved method for assessing hail damage on pulse crops, the APG contingent was eager to learn more about the assessment process and about the science behind the assessment. Since Alberta is known to have the greatest frequency of hail than any other part of Canada, according to a recent CBC documentary, and Alberta grain producers have consistently increasing claims from hail damage on crops, the opportunity to collaborate and work with AFSC on hail assessment is timely.

In the discussion, AFSC reviewed hail adjusters’ protocols with Commissioners and discussed the current year’s hail situation (as of July 22, 2013). AFSC shared that it would welcome additional work on hail assessment on pulse crops, and APG will take this back to the staff to investigate the science behind hail and pulse crops to seek opportunities for scientific research to benefit the data analysis on assessment.

“Having the opportunity to work with AFSC on these types of topics is important to our membership,” says Vice President Allison Ammeter, a Zone 2 Advisor who lives in a hail risk area. “If we can provide an improved process or greater information around topics, like hail, and greater risk management tools for our growers, we are only benefiting the industry.”

“We have a terrific dialogue between APG and AFSC, and we continue to make this a priority in our organization to work to find improvements for our growers,” says Leanne Fischbuch, APG Executive Director. “APG has been meeting with AFSC on a regular basis for over four years, and we are really pleased at how the relationship has developed.”

The next formal meeting with AFSC will take place next summer, but informal meetings continue to occur.

This article appeared in the Fall 2013 issue of Pulse Crop News.

Breeding better pulse varieties has been top-of-mind for Alberta crop producers who are looking for an Nfixing crop with good standability, disease resistance, and yield. But with a decade of expensive testing needed to develop each new variety, researchers at Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD) have been working on a better way to get new varieties into growers’ hands quickly and less expensively.

Dr. Sheri Strydhorst, Agronomic Research Scientist with ARD, and her research team continue to evaluate a wide range of available international pea and faba bean germplasm (in this case, seeds) for adaptability in Alberta.

In order to identify lines that will be best-suited to Alberta’s growing conditions, Strydhorst’s team obtained germplasm from breeding institutions from across the globe – including lines from homegrown breeding programs like AAFC in Lacombe and the Crop Development Centre (CDC) at the University of Saskatchewan, as well as lines from Limagrain’s breeding program in the Netherlands and DL Seeds’ German and French breeding programs from NPZ Europa.

A total of 917 lines are being tested at sites in St. Albert, Vegreville, Brooks, Lacombe, and Barrhead (which had 100 per cent hail damage in July). Following the research protocols established by each individual breeder, Strydhorst’s team will seed the new lines during each year of the study and then assess them based on emergence, the number of days to flowering, height, lodging resistance, days to physiological maturity, thousand seed weight, and yield. A statistical analysis conducted by the research team will determine the best varieties based on those traits.

“What we’re looking for is improvements in the varieties in terms of yield, standability, maturity, seed size, bleaching resistance, or the chemical composition of the seeds,” Strydhorst explains.

Of the 917 lines being tested, Strydhorst’s team will identify the best 20 to 30 lines that are adapted for Alberta. From there, the breeders will select the best 10 lines to be put forward to the Prairie Recommending Committee for Pulses and Special Crops (PRCPSC). There, the lines will be considered for registration in Canada, at which point they may become available to growers.

Because this project is a continuation of an earlier project previously led by Ken Lopetinsky and then Mark Olson, there has been some success in getting new varieties into growers’ hands. In the previous iteration of this project, 31 new field pea and six new faba bean lines were recommended for registration at the PRCPSC. Of those lines, eight pea varieties and one faba bean variety – all better than the check for at least one attribute – are now commercially available for Alberta growers.

And producers are not the only ones who benefit from this approach. International breeding institutions generally do not have the capacity to conduct adaptability trials in large geographic areas, so by partnering with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development on a project like this, breeders from across the world are able to test the adaptability of their germplasm in Alberta.

As a result, producers gain access to new varieties quickly and less expensively, and breeders gain access to a new market for their varieties – a win-win situation in light of the potential profit gain producers stand to see from access to better varieties, according to Strydhorst.

“In 2007, the average pea production in the province was 31.6 bu/ac. In 2012, it was 40.7 bu/ac,” Strydhorst says. “On average, between that time period, growers increased their pea yield by 9.1 bu/ac, and at a price of $8.32 per bushel, pulse growers were able to earn an extra $75 per acre – without additional input costs.”

And Dr. Strydhorst believes that part of that increase in yield – and, ultimately, profit – can be attributed to new genetics.

“I think for the Alberta pulse industry to remain competitive and continue expanding acres and exports, growers need to have access to the best varieties out there,” said Strydhorst. “This project provides growers with those new, better varieties in a very economically feasible way. We’re taking the best varieties from everywhere and then handpicking the best for our Alberta growers.”

This article appeared in the Fall 2013 issue of Pulse Crop News.

Sydney Vos, APG Member Relations Coordinator

I would like to introduce myself as your new Member Relations Coordinator, located out of the Leduc office. I grew up near Fairview, Alberta, on a seed farm where we grew canola, barley, wheat, and pea varieties. In my spare time, I worked on the farm and was a member of 4-H.

After high school, I attended the University of Alberta and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Agricultural/Food Business Management. I enjoyed this program because it offered the chance to choose your own combination of business and agriculture courses in the last two years. During the summers at University, I worked in the agriculture industry with several companies to gain a range of experience in research, finance, and sales. Once I finished my degree, I spent a few months working on a farm in Australia and touring New Zealand and Thailand.

I had been working with AFSC in Barrhead as an Account Manager Trainee when I saw the opportunity for the Member Relations Coordinator position with Alberta Pulse Growers. I was drawn to the position for two reasons. The first was the opportunity to be a part of a commission that supported producers in a relatively up-and-coming industry. Secondly, I was drawn to the uniqueness of the position and the variety of opportunities and challenges I would be exposed to. Both reasons influenced me to apply, and I was hired!

Since I started with APG on July 15, I have been caught up in the excitement of the pulse industry. I have already learned a lot about pulses in Alberta, and still have plenty to learn. I knew I had big shoes to fill upon hearing about the past MRC, Duane Ransome, and his vast agronomic knowledge and wonderful people skills. In the first month, I have been attending crop tours, meeting contacts in the industry, and growing my agronomic knowledge of pulse crops in each zone. My other responsibilities will include participating in zone meetings, supporting extension activities, and partaking in conferences, tradeshows, and tours throughout the province.

This will no doubt be one of the more challenging positions I have taken on, and will likely result in amazing experiences and connections. I hope to gain more experience over the next few months in order to better represent pulse growers of Alberta on a national and international stage. My goals include perceiving key issues in each zone, working with research organizations to focus on these issues, and obtaining feedback from growers regarding APG.

I am excited to be part of the APG staff and looking forward to meeting many more new people. If you happen to see me at a tour, conference or meeting, please come say hello and tell me your pulse story!

This article appeared in the Fall 2013 issue of Pulse Crop News.

Alberta chickpea growers have seen declining seed quality and yield over the past five years, and the plants’ indeterminate growth habits seem to be one of the major causes, according to Dr. Manjula Bandara, Special Crop Research Scientist at CDC South in Brooks.

“Chickpeas grow continuously, even after flowering, depending on weather conditions,” says Dr. Bandara. “In periods of high rainfall, chickpeas start regrowing late in the season instead of reaching maturity, and the resources intended for the earlier seeds are instead consumed by that regrowth. As a result, we get immature green seed, which reduces overall seed quality and marketable yield.”

To prevent this unwanted regrowth, chickpea breeders have been working on producing determinate varieties, with limited success so far. As a result, researchers such as Dr. Bandara have been exploring alternative agronomy practices as a possible solution – namely, the use of plant growth regulators to control the secondary growth habits.

Used successfully in Europe on winter and spring wheat crops for over 60 years, plant growth regulators are synthetic chemicals that suppress plant growth, in theory reducing the effects of secondary growth. With that in mind, Dr. Bandara and his research team began a three-year study in 2010 that explored the use of plant growth regulators on Kabuli chickpea crops.

“Our main objective was to look at secondary growth – how secondary growth affects seed quality, how plant height can be used as an indicator for secondary growth, and how plant growth regulators affect yield quality,” says Dr. Bandara.

To that end, Dr. Bandara’s research team set out to determine the best production practices for using plant growth regulators on chickpeas: application stage; concentrations; varieties; interaction with fungicides; and optimal conditions for use.

Using CDC Frontier – a medium-seeded and CDC Orion – large- seeded Kabuli type – as the test variety, Dr. Bandara set up one test site in Bow Island and another in Brooks. The intent was to maintain two separate irrigated and rain-fed sites in Brooks and an irrigated site in Bow Island, but moisture levels in 2010-11 were high as a result of heavy rainfall. Because of this, Dr. Bandara was able to maintain around 50 per cent moisture levels until flowering in Bow Island without the use of irrigation.

Three plant growth regulators – Cycocel, Apogee, and Palisade – were applied at four different concentrations at three growth stages: 10 days after flowering, 20 days after flowering, and 30 days after flowering. The research team wanted to have the flowers established prior to spraying, according to Dr. Bandara.

“We really didn’t have any idea how the chemicals would affect the flowering,” Dr. Bandara explained. “In some cases, we’ve found when you spray at flowering, it increases flower abortion, and we wanted to avoid that.”

The team also looked at different methods of applying the plant growth regulators. “In one case, we applied the chemicals alongside the fungicide. In another, we applied it separately. We wanted to see if there were any interactions between the chemicals, and we found there’s no difference on the activities when applied a fungicide, such as Headline® or Proline® and plant growth regulator together or separately.”

After three years of data collections at the two sites, Dr. Bandara’s research team concluded the study with some “unexpected results.”

“Based on the information we gathered over the last three years, the use of these chemicals on chickpeas under extreme conditions has no significant beneficial impact on seed yield improvement or maturity,” said Dr. Bandara.

Spraying with Cycocel resulted in no plant height reduction, and while both Apogee and Palisade reduced plant height for several weeks, the effect was temporary, and regrowth occurred before the end of the growing season. And while Cycocel did not harm the yield, both Apogee and Palisade at high concentrations produced lower yields.

Why this is happened is “uncertain,” according to Dr. Bandara. “The effect was inconsistent, but overall, there was no yield improvement.”

Though the study did not produce the desired results, Dr. Bandara feels that even negative results are important.

“In most situations,we ignore and do not report negative or neutral results,” said Dr. Bandara. “But now at least we know that, under these circumstances, using these compounds won’t be beneficial.”

Demand remains from lentil and chickpea growers to see if other plant growth regulators could be used to control secondary growth in these crops. Dr. Bandara feels that further research into the effects of plant growth regulators on pulses is needed.in Our current studies were conducted with a single application of plant growth regulators at a wide range of concentrations at different growth stages. In future studies, we may need to consider and test multiple applications of plant growth regulators at very low concentrations by tank mixing with fungicides.

“Research into using plant growth regulators is not new, but the crops that we’re dealing with are new and very challenging,” said Dr. Bandara. “We’re still far behind on breeding determinate types of lentils and chickpeas, so we have to figure out other solutions. We now know what doesn’t work, and further research will hopefully show us what does.”

This project was supported through funding under the Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program (CAAP). In Alberta, CAAP is administered by the Agriculture and Food Council.

This article appeared in the Fall 2013 issue of Pulse Crop News.

Julianne Curran

Beans and Cholesterol Lowering

Decades have research have shown that pulses can help lower cholesterol, but how many consumers think of eating more pulses when they find out they have high cholesterol levels? They may think of eating Cheerios, or oatmeal, or even flax for its omega-3 fats. The Mayo Clinic lists the following top 5 foods that can lower your blood cholesterol:

1. Oatmeal, oat bran and high-fiber foods
2. Fish and omega-3 fatty acids
3. Walnuts, almonds and other nuts
4. Olive oil
5. Foods with added plant sterols or stanols

So where are pulses on this list? And how does the evidence we have compare to the evidence for these other foods?

Pulse Canada brought together a group of experts earlier this summer to examine the existing evidence we have in relation to beans and cholesterol lowering to determine whether we could pursue a health claim. Based on a systematic review of 93 publications related to beans and cholesterol reduction, only 8 studies could be used for health claim substantiation. Of these studies, 62.5% of studies saw a significant reduction in total cholesterol, while 50% saw a significant reduction in LDL-cholesterol, indicating a moderate and low strength of association, respectively (by Health Canada’s standards). A high strength of association, as supported by ≥75% of clinical studies reviewed, is a pivotal component of a health claim submission.

Based on this, the experts at the workshop concluded that further studies are needed before a beans and cholesterol-lowering health claim application could be submitted to Health Canada or the U.S. FDA. However, they unanimously agreed that the evidence supported the relationship between beans and cholesterol lowering. Since 2010, Health Canada has approved cholesterol-lowering claims for plant sterols, oat products, psyllium products, mono- and poly-unsaturated fatty acids, and barley. In comparison to the 8 included studies for the beans and cholesterol lowering review, the number of publications used to substantiate these other recently approved claims has ranged from 13 to 84.

The magnitude of the effect of these foods/ food constituents on LDL-cholesterol levels as shown in the included studies ranged from a reduction of 0.04% to 8.8%. In comparison, the magnitude of the effect of beans on LDL-cholesterol levels in the 8 included studies is equal or even greater than effects seen from these other foods/food constituents that have approved health claims in Canada. Beans produced 7 to 11% reductions in LDL-cholesterol levels in the included studies.

Although we may not have enough “high-quality” studies to submit a health claim application for beans and cholesterol-lowering right now, pulses are still getting recognized for the heart healthy benefits by some key influencers. The American Heart Association report published in 2010 on setting goals for health promotion and disease reduction for 2020 included whole grains, nuts, and legumes/pulses as dietary measures to lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) or CVD risk factors such as blood cholesterol.

Pulses and Blood Sugar Control

Pulses are well established as a low glycemic index food, are often cited by diabetes health organizations as a good food choice because of their carbohydrate composition, and decades of research have shown pulses can help to maintain healthy blood sugar levels after a meal, but is this message getting out to consumers? A quick google search of “foods for blood sugar control” found the following list of six foods on WebMD that may help control blood sugar:

1. Oatmeal
2. Broccoli, Spinach and Green Beans
3. Strawberries
4. Salmon and Lean Meats
5. Sparkling Water
6. Cinnamon

So why aren’t pulses on this list? Studies confirm that consumers are looking for foods with health benefits. Adding health claims to packaging allows manufacturers to communicate the health benefits of their products to consumers, and allows consumers to make informed purchasing decisions. Despite the prevalence of people with impaired glucose tolerance (pre-diabetes) or diagnosed diabetes, there are no health claims related to short term blood sugar control being made in Canada and a limited number if any being made in the United States.

There is a tremendous opportunity for the pulse industry to move forward with claims related to blood sugar control since this type of claim does not require pre-market approval in Canada or the US. In addition to already having a large body of evidence for pulses in this area, dietary intervention is often the preferred first choice for people with impaired glucose tolerance or diabetes which is of high prevalence globally.

In August, Pulse Canada brought together a group of experts in Toronto to examine the existing evidence in relation to lentils and short term blood sugar control to determine whether there is enough strong quality evidence to back a health claim that would be deemed “truthful and not misleading”.

Of all the publications available related to lentils and post-prandial glycemia, there were 10 clinical publications (12 intervention studies) that met the inclusion criteria based on Health Canada’s standards for evidence to substantiate a claim. Nine of the 10 publications were considered to be “high quality”. Overall, a highly consistent beneficial effect of lentil consumption on measurements related to short term blood sugar control was supported by 100% of the high-quality studies. Although this review focused on lentils specifically, there are also a large number of published studies investigating the effect of beans on short term glycemic control that could potentially be examined for a similar type of health claim.

Based on the review of lentils and short term blood sugar control research, the consensus at the workshop was that the industry could make a health claim in the US for whole lentils without any further research required. Pulse Canada will be meeting with the US pulse groups and FDA representatives to discuss this in more detail. Some of the claim wordings that have been proposed are:

• Lentils are a low glycemic index food, which contributes to healthy blood sugar levels.
• Eating lentils can contribute to healthy blood sugar levels.
• A serving of x grams of whole lentils results in a lower blood sugar response.
• Incorporation of whole/split lentils into your diet will help keep your blood glucose at healthier levels.
• Lentils contribute to a reduction in the blood sugar rise after eating. (A serving of 1/2 cup of boiled or canned lentils can produce this effect)
• Lentils result in a low blood sugar rise. (A serving of 1/2 cup of boiled or canned lentils can produce this effect)

The benefits of achieving a health claim include increased consumer awareness and media attention of that food or food component, as well as added incentive for food industry to include that particular food/ingredient within product formulations so they can carry the claim on their label. For example, according to a 2011 Mintel report, 170 plant sterol enriched products (e.g. margarine, yogurt, drinkable yogurt, fruit juice) were launched in the U.S. since the claim was approved in 2000.

There is a significant opportunity to accelerate the pace of innovation and commercialization of lentil containing food products by focusing future research to substantiate this health claim beyond whole lentils to include lentil flours and fractions.

This article appeared in the Fall 2013 issue of Pulse Crop News.

Janet Krayden

Grain Growers hires new Executive Director

After toiling diligently throughout the summer, the Grain Growers’ hiring committee has hired Jim Facette as its new Executive Director (ED) to replace Richard Phillips, GGC’s outgoing ED who is moving to his new position as President of the Canada Grains Council. Jim officially starts with the Grain Growers September 3rd.

His qualifications and experience made him an excellent choice. He is an experienced government and public relations professional with 18 years of industry association experiences in various sectors including construction and airports. Most recently he was President and CEO of the Canadian Propane Association. He is passionate about working with farmers and the grain industry and he looks forward to getting to know the GGC Board and Staff.

Grains, Oilseed & Pulses Sustainability Summit, Winnipeg, July 9th

Grain Growers and several member organisations participated in the Sustainability Summit in Winnipeg on July 9th. “Sustainability” is an increasingly popular buzz word and also gaining pre-dominance as an issue. Led by industry and organized by the Grains Roundtable Sustainability subcommittee, the one day conference had a mixture of retailers, farmers, ag associations, exporters and non-government organization representatives.

Many retailers such as General Mills, McDonalds, Unilever are independently organizing sustainability standards. New international sustainability standards and requirements are also increasing pressure on exporters. Pulse Canada has done a lot of work in the form of a sustainability calculator that was also discussed and the Canadian Cattlemen also presented the program they are launching called Ecosystem Services Programs.

Sustainability is challenging to define. One area where more work needs to be done is outreach to engage retailers and environmental groups. Farmers at the summit explained they realise that they need to do more work educating the public regarding substantial sustainability progress made but they don’t want a new regulatory burden and the cost of sustainability programs downloaded on farmers.

Also, if there is a marketing advantage and premiums are paid for participation, this will make voluntary participation a lot more attractive to farmers.

Grain Growers will need to continue to be engaged on this file and this may become more of a “hot” issue at AAFC’s Grains Roundtable and potentially also at the Canada Grains Council in the future.

Be Confident and Proud about how you farm!

Learn to speak confidently about how you farm today by joining the Grain Growers and Croplife in Calgary for the afternoon of Sunday, December 1st!

Grain Growers and Croplife are holding a workshop designed for farmers to help farmers be prepared to better communicate the benefits of plant science and modern agriculture technologies. This special session will be held from 11:30 AM – 5:00 PM, the day before the Grain Growers Board meeting, which is prior to the Grow Canada Conference, held the same week. Focusing on being prepared on these topics will help us to answer questions from our friends, our neighbours, and the media, that arise in our daily lives regarding biotech and other modern farming technologies.

The workshop is for Grain Growers’ Directors and member staff and if any Alberta Pulse Growers farmers are interested they are welcome to join the session, but space is limited. If interested, please contact Janet Krayden at 613-233-9954 or office@ggc-pgc.ca.

This article appeared in the Fall 2013 issue of Pulse Crop News.

Leanne Fischbuch, Executive Director

Like all producers, Alberta Pulse Growers’ staff has been waiting to see how the 2012-13 harvest comes in. Again, we are expecting over 1 million acres of pulse crops to contribute to the agri-food industry in Alberta. We have not been idle this summer just waiting for the harvest, though; we have been across the province this summer spreading the good word about pulses.

One of the most anticipated events of the summer was the Canadian Special Crops Association (CSCA) Conference, which was to be held in Calgary on June 22 to June 25. APG’s Zone 2 was working hard to provide a spectacular tour of the Alberta Zone for international delegates attending the conference. The unfortunate natural disaster of the greatest flood event in Alberta’s most recent history stopped all the events in their tracks, though, and the CSCA conference and all activities planned around it, including the APG Zone 2 tour, were cancelled. I would like to thank the Zone 2 members who worked very hard to plan for a great tour, and specifically Les Bell and Doug Sell. I know it would have been a fantastic success. Late July, the final call was made and the CSCA conference was cancelled for 2013. While unfortunate, we are looking forward to next year’s CSCA, which will be held in Saskatoon.

As crop walk season started, APG staff tried to make it out to as many events as we possibly could. The opportunity at the crop walks to hear from growers and discuss what is on the minds of our members is extremely important. When we entered the season early on, we were one staff member short, and as the season ramped up, we were pleased to have Sydney Vos, join our staff as our Member Relations Coordinator. From the first day, Sydney was launched into her new role and joined other staff members on the crop walk circuit. I hope you had a chance to meet Sydney at one of the walks, but if not, please read her story in this issue of PCN to get to know her a bit better and follow her on twitter at @APGSydney.

While Sydney joined the staff, in late August, we will be saying good-bye to another staff member, Communications Coordinator Jennifer Blair. Jennifer has been with APG for the past two years and has led the significant rebranding effort and web development for the organization. She has also been the Editor behind Pulse Crop News for over eight editions and has been a pulse promoter to the social media scene, advancing the public’s awareness and use of pulses in their daily recipes. We will miss her consumer focus and her skills and abilities in the area of communications, and we wish her well in her new role as she will continue to develop her passion for writing and support of the agriculture industry.

Science was also on the APG agenda this summer, gaining support and approval from the federal government for the Agri-Science Innovation Pulse Cluster Application. In late July came the news from Minister Ritz announcing the $15 million investment for the Pulse Cluster. This will support research and innovation in the pulse industry for the next five years, effective April 1, and will create broader collaboration from across Canada on pulse research. APG is looking forward to working with Pulse Canada and the other grower groups from across the nation in finalizing the Cluster funding and getting the research up and running.

While producers are out harvesting, APG staff will be having the following key activities on our agenda for the next few months. We are already in preparation for Zone meetings, and we encourage you to mark your calendars for dates and meeting locations in your area. Meetings will start the second week of November and carry on until the second week of December. We look forward to dialoging with you about the past year and hearing your comments and concerns as we move forward.

APG is also in the middle of a regulatory review; it is APG’s turn to open up our regulations to review and recommend any changes. We have a subcommittee of Commissioners and staff who are working on the recommendations, and we will be asking for feedback on our direction as we move forward with any legislation changes.

Soon, registration for FarmTech will also be opening up. As a host organization, APG would encourage you to consider attending FarmTech. It is the best Western Canadian Agriculture Conference out there, and the line-up for this year is looking fantastic. APG also holds our Annual General Meeting during the event, and we would like to extend an invitation to pulse growers to join us on January 29 at FarmTech to hear more of what APG has been doing this past year. We will also be featuring an update from Pulse Canada during our AGM. Executive Director’s Message Leanne Fischbuch, Executive Director

Please drop me a line anytime with your thoughts and comments about APG. I look forward to hearing from you. You can reach me at lfischbuch@pulse.ab.ca. Have a safe and prosperous harvest!

This article appeared in the Fall 2013 issue of Pulse Crop News.

Richard Krikke, APG President

A farmer’s work is never done, and that seems doubly so as we enter another busy season of meetings, tradeshows, and other events that will help us make important growing decisions for next year. And while these events – including Alberta Pulse Growers’ zone meetings – are important, we learned a few lessons over the summer here at APG that can be applied to next year’s growing season and beyond.

1. You can’t count on the weather.

Mother Nature made it pretty clear we were in for a wild summer in late June with the catastrophic flooding of High River and Calgary. The pulse and special crops industries were all set to meet in Calgary at the end of June for the annual Canadian Special Crops Association conference, but a year of planning could not have prepared the organizing committee for a hundred-year flood in the host city. Then, throughout July, hail ravaged crops across the province, including in my area near Barrhead, where some farms saw 100 per cent hail damage. Few things are more disappointing than putting your time and energy into a crop only to have it hailed out. No, you can’t count on the weather – or any of the many other things that are outside your control – but you can plan as best as is possible, salvage what you can if things go wrong, and hope next time goes better.

2. You need to know your markets.

As farmers, we always seem to be at the mercy of our markets. We grow what the markets want us to grow, and we sell when the markets are giving us the best price for our products (or at least we try to.) But as we’ve learned in recent years, knowing our market means more than knowing what to sell and when. How we produce our crops can sometimes mean the difference between an open market and a closed one. Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for desiccants and harvest management tools is a prime example of that. To help clarify the international limits for our growers, the provincial pulse grower groups worked together over the summer to produce a grower advisory that shows market considerations for desiccants and harvest management tools for some of our major trade partners. This chart can be found on our website at www.pulse.ab.ca/producers under the News, Events, and Publications section.

3. You’re only as good as your worst tool.

On a farm, a tool can be anything that helps you get the job done: your machinery, your chemicals, your farmhands, your knowledge, and your skills. That’s why we sent our staff – even our administrative staff – to crop walks across Alberta this summer. Everywhere they went, they had a chance to learn more about the crops we’re supporting and connect with the growers who are producing them. And that’s also why we invest in research. The more we know – the more production tools we have in our tool box – the better able we are to get the job done. Minister Ritz’s announcement of the federal government’s $15 million investment in pulse research will go a long way toward helping us give growers the tools they need to produce high-quality pulses for many years to come.

Now these things may seem like common sense to the average farmer, but we think it’s useful advice all the same. And when we see you out at our zone meetings this winter or chat with you at one of the tradeshows we’ll be at, we’ll remind you of another useful piece of advice: many hands make light work, and we can always use a few more hands in our zones, advising us on the direction we should be heading to best help our growers.

If you’re interested in learning more about becoming a Zone Advisor or Commissioner, get in touch with Member Relations Coordinator Sydney Vos at 780-986-9398 or svos@pulse.ab.ca.