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

Right around the time that Alberta’s pulse producers were beginning their growing season, Alberta Pulse Growers’ staff began growing a few things of their own: namely, the organization’s new brand and website. And after months of work and collaboration with AdFarm, a Calgary-based ad agency hired to help with the project, Alberta Pulse Growers is almost ready to unveil its efforts.

Brand

The branding component of this project was an important first step toward determining how we, as an organization, want to be viewed by growers, consumers, and key stakeholders. AdFarm worked closely with the Alberta Pulse Growers Board, Communications Committee, and staff to refine our logo, visual identity, and brand identity.

New logo

After much deliberation and debate, Alberta Pulse Growers will have an updated logo that reflects what we do in a more contemporary way. The new logo will also be more versatile: for producer communications, the logo will include the word “Growers,” but the “Growers” will be dropped from the logo for communications to consumers. The Commission felt that including “Growers” in producer communications was vital to show the work APG does on behalf of producers, but for consumer communications, including “Growers” was not necessary, as most communications to consumers focus on pulses as a food product, not on the growers themselves. This change will make it easier for both producers and consumers to recognize the work APG does.

New visual identity

Another way we’re making it easier for producers and consumers to recognize the work we do is through our new visual identity guidelines. Previously, none of APG’s marketing materials shared a consistent look, making it difficult for people to recognize our work. Now, all of APG’s marketing materials – including the website, publications, tradeshow booths, brochures, advertisements, and presentations – will all have a similar look and feel, with consistent colours, fonts, and images, which will help us reach producers and consumers more easily with our messages.

Refined brand identity

Alberta Pulse Growers’ brand is more than a logo or matching colour schemes; our brand also encompasses our purpose, our values, and our commitments to the people we serve. The intrinsic qualities that make up who we are as an organization have now been put to paper in our refined brand identity. We haven’t changed who we are or what we do; rather, we’ve fine-tuned it so that staff, Commissioners, Advisors, partners, and growers all receive the same message about what Alberta Pulse Growers stands for and represents.

Website

Redeveloping the Alberta Pulse Growers’ website went hand-in-hand with refining our brand and updating our visual identity. The new website encompasses easier navigation, enhanced producer information, and improved consumer focus to ensure the people who come to our website are able to find what they need quickly and easily.

Easier navigation

Whether you’re a producer or a consumer, finding the information you need will be easier on APG’s updated website. The new site will be divided into two sections: one for consumers, and one for producers. This division will make it easier to provide each group with the information most relevant to them. For consumers, recipes and health information are front and centre; for producers, agronomy information for each crop type is easy to find on the new site.

The new website also makes it easy to access producer information from the consumer section, and vice versa. An enhanced search function and sensible site layout make the updated website much quicker to navigate and easier to use both for growers and consumers.

Enhanced production information

The updated website will also include a more comprehensive pulse agronomy section for producers. APG’s previous website didn’t have a lot of information about how to grow pulses, and the new website remedies that through easy-to-navigate pages that describe pulse crop production from start to finish.

Much like the hard-copy pulse manual many are familiar with, APG’s new website will cover production information for each of the pulse crops commonly grown in Alberta. This information will be useful both for new pulse growers and long-time growers.

Improved consumer focus

In order to get consumers to eat pulses – driving up demand for the pulses you grow – APG provides easy, delicious recipes on printed recipe sheets and through the website. The new website puts those recipes front and centre, right on the home page in an eye-catching way. On the previous website, finding recipes could be challenging, and sharing those recipes on social media and in advertising was difficult, as most of the recipes were featured in recipe sheets. Now, each recipe has its own page on the site, making them easier to find and share.

The health information provided to consumers has also been enhanced. The old website offered some technical sheets designed for healthcare professionals to explain how pulses help with various diseases and conditions; the updated website offers the same information but in less technical terms. And because this information is easier to find on the website, people searching for that information on the internet are more likely to be driven to APG’s site.

These enhancements to Alberta Pulse Growers’ brand and website will help the Commission reach both producers and consumers more effectively. For a first look at our new brand and website, join APG at our upcoming Annual General Meeting on January 30 at Northlands in Edmonton.

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

Alberta Pulse Growers has made it easier for our members and stakeholders to find the information they need about the commission’s activities, through the newly launched Alberta Pulse Growers’ 2011-12 Annual Report. Jennifer Blair, Communications Coordinator for Alberta Pulse Growers, feels that developing an Annual Report is another positive change in the way the commission communicates with its members.

“APG’s Annual Report will continue to showcase the progress the organization has made over the past year on our steering committees and in our zones,” said Blair, “but this information will now be presented in a much more useable format.”

In past years, the commission’s financial statements were posted on APG’s website and included in the annual winter edition of Pulse Crop News, along with reports from APG’s zones and Board Steering Committees. Blair believes that a formal Annual Report is a better way to provide the information to growers. “The Annual Report will make it easier for our members and other interested parties to find important information about the state of our organization. Historically, that information was difficult to find on our website because of its placement in Pulse Crop News. Now, growers can find a complete overview of our activities and financial statements in an easy-to-find location.”

For producers and stakeholders who would still prefer hardcopy documentation of the organization’s yearly activities, print copies will also be available at the Annual General Meeting, at zone meetings, and by request to the APG office. These printed copies will offer a higher quality format of displaying the year-end information.

This shift will also allow the organization to place greater emphasis on crafting timely articles, rather than organizational data, for the winter edition of Pulse Crop News.

“Providing informative articles to our members is the real intent of Pulse Crop News – one that we’ll be better able to focus on by providing a new home for the organizational information we used to include in the magazine,” said Blair, who added that mailing the Annual Report alongside the winter edition of Pulse Crop News will ensure members have them in their hands prior to the Annual General Meeting, held this year at Northlands in Edmonton on January 30, 2013.

Publishing a formal Annual Report brings APG in line with other commodity groups, including Saskatchewan Pulse Growers and Alberta Canola, who also produce first-rate yearly reviews of their activities. When combined with other new initiatives like APG’s updated website, set to launch next month, the Annual Report will offer members a better way of accessing the information they need in a format that makes sense.

According to Blair, increasing producer profitability was a primary focus of the projects APG has undertaken in the past year, and that focus will continue in the new year, with projects like an updated online pulse manual. By making improvements to the way the organization shares information, Alberta Pulse Growers will have the tools in place to respond quickly to producer needs, ensuring the competitiveness of our members now and into the future.

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

Leanne Fischbuch, Executive Director

We are excited to provide an update to the membership of the activities that we’ve undertaken this year. Some of the highlights included…

• An excellent revenue position thanks to good, consistent pricing of pulses over the year;
• Investment of over $1.2 million in research activity, including market development, research, and agronomy, extension, communication, and policy projects;
• A stronger organization as a result of new committee oversight for Audit and Finance and Communications;
• Hard work within our Zones to showcase pulses to the membership through demos, crop walks, and extension projects;
• Effective partnerships with our provincial counterparts through bilateral funding of projects, as well as working together at the national level through Pulse Canada; and
• Opportunities to learn more about our international position in the world through travel experiences for Commissioners to India, our largest trading partner, and Dubai, the world headquarters for the international pulse trade, as well as hosting delegates from our second largest trading partner, China.

Annual General Meeting – January 30, 2013

Commissioners and staff are also preparing for our Annual General Meeting (AGM). This is another way that members can join us to learn more about what we have been doing this past year. On January 30 from 2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. at the FarmTech Conference held in Edmonton at Northlands Expo Centre, APG will be on stage, front and centre. We will be conducting elections for two Commissioner-at-large positions – for Bean and Non-Bean growers. These one-year term positions are a terrific way to get involved with the organization and give back to the industry.

Additionally, in advance of the AGM, we are accepting resolutions. Resolutions can be brought forward in writing to the APG office by no later than January 15 to be considered during the APG AGM; there will be no resolutions accepted from the floor. Please contact the office at office@pulse.ab.ca or at 780-986-9398 if you are interested in putting forward a resolution for the organization to consider.

Our AGM will feature Richard Phillips of Grain Growers of Canada, who will be providing an update of GGC activities. In addition, APG is pleased to feature and launch our new web site and rebranding effort, which Commissioners and staff have been working on since the summer.

Pulse Organizations Across Canada Work to Prepare for the Next Opportunity for Federal Research Funding

This fall, APG has been developing our own research and development strategy, and we’ve also been working with our provincial and national partners in creation of a national strategy for pulse research. About five years ago, the Government of Canada provided Growing Forward funding through the Pulse Science Cluster, which enabled grower organizations to leverage support to invest in research projects that moved the genetics and agronomic knowledge forward for the industry.

With the Government of Canada’s Growing Forward 2 announcement, it is expected that industry will have this opportunity once again. APG invested over $880 thousand in the first Growing Forward Pulse Science Cluster, and we are looking to invest even more this round. For a robust pulse industry, there continues to be a need for research. The value that this opportunity provides is the chance to leverage funding.

Researchers will be contacted soon and asked to provide proposals to the coordinators of the Pulse Science Cluster for review by partners and inclusion in the Pulse Science Cluster Application in anticipation of the start date of April 1, 2013 – the target date for Growing Forward 2 implementation. APG is looking forward to reviewing and providing comment on the proposals as we prepare for the next five-year research cycle.

Significant Reinvestment in Pulse Canada for 2012-13

APG is pleased to announce that in November at our Provincial Board Meeting, the Commissioners voted unanimously to provide elevated support to Pulse Canada of $750,000 per year for five years. This was the result of discussion and review of the new Pulse Canada plan. APG looks forward to working with our partners supporting the industry.

The decision to move to $750 thousand per year for five years will help support the new Strategic Plan and Work Plans that the organization is developing. Pulse Canada works on key areas to maximize revenue and optimize costs for the pulse industry. Areas of focus include transportation, market access, sustainability, nutrition, and functionality of pulses. APG is really excited about this investment.

Of Note

The APG office has moved locations. Effective December 1, we’ve moved our office to 5007-49 Street in Leduc. The new location provides us with additional space and storage, with a better working environment for staff. We are excited to be in the new space and look forward to getting unpacked.

There are many more terrific stories that we can share, and they are highlighted in our Annual Report 2011-12. Please enjoy a copy of our Annual Report, included in this edition of Pulse Crop News, and if you have any questions, feel free to drop us a line. We’d be happy to share our story with you.

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

Gerry Good, APG President

All good things must come to an end.

For the past six years, I have been privileged not only to represent Zone 2 as a Commissioner on the Alberta Pulse Growers Provincial Board but also to act as President of the Board for the past three years. As my term on the Board comes to an end, I am reminded of the wonderful experiences I’ve had and the great people I’ve met through my involvement with Alberta Pulse Growers.

I joined the Commission six years ago because I believe in the potential of pulses. The peas we grow on our operation – and, to a lesser degree, the lentils we’ve tried – have fit beautifully in our rotation. Reduced input costs and improved soil tilth are often mentioned as the main benefits of growing pulses, but one thing often gets overlooked: profitability.

The fact is no one would grow pulses if they weren’t profitable to some degree. We saw strong prices for peas this past year, even for those that didn’t make human grade. And while demand for lentils has dropped, international market demand for Canadian pulses in general continues to grow, specifically for established Alberta pulse crops like peas and beans. Year after year, we’ve seen on our farm that there’s money to be made growing pulses.

We also saw some exciting work being done on emerging pulse crop types – specifically fababeans and soybeans – over the past year. Though our acres for fabas and soybeans are limited right now, we saw good yield, good quality, and good prices for these relative newcomers. As we work to increase the markets for Alberta-grown fababeans and soybeans, I expect that profitability will be a driving force behind growers trying these crops in their rotations. Increased markets for these crops will only benefit pulse producers, as our industry continues to grow and change to adapt to the changing world in which we work.

As a member of the Alberta Pulse Growers Board, I’ve seen first-hand how the industry has grown and changed over the past half-dozen years. My role took me as far as China on a trade mission back in 2009 (a definite perk of being involved with the Board), but most of my work has been done here at home, building relationships with partner organizations, government officials, and growers themselves. Though challenging at times, working with the Commission has been rewarding beyond description, and I look forward to continuing my Zone 2 involvement as an Advisor.

With my departure from the Board, along with the departure of Zone 2 Commissioner Barry Grabo, Zone 2 was in need of two new Commissioners. At our Zone AGM back in November, the zone elected by acclamation two new Commissioners to represent the zone at the Board level: Allison Ammeter and Douglas Sell. I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know both Allison and Doug through their involvement with the zone and the organization, and I know that these two new Commissioners will serve Alberta Pulse Growers well, both here in Alberta and wherever their participation in APG may take them.

Though the advisor and Commissioner elections were completed in November and December, we soon will have two other positions to fill on our Board: those of Commissioners-at-Large. At our upcoming Provincial Annual General Meeting on January 30, 2013, our members will elect one bean grower and one non-bean grower as Commissionersat-Large for a one-year term. We hope that members interested in environmental policy, communications, education, governance, or culinary arts will consider throwing their name into the hat for these integral roles.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone I’ve worked with during my term on the Alberta Pulse Growers’ Board. Our shared experiences and efforts on behalf of the pulse industry have left a lasting mark on me, and with your continued work and support, I have no doubt the industry is in good hands.