The University of Alberta team that created the Lentola Bar walked away with the top prize in the Alberta Pulse Growers’ 10th annual student food product development competition, Mission: ImPULSEible.
But the winning pulse product was “Plan B” for the University of Alberta Nutrition and Food Science students who developed it.
“This was actually our backup plan,” said Team Leader Andrea Dacko. “Our first plan, a pulse jelly, didn’t work out, which turned out to be a good learning experience and a reminder of what could happen in something like product development. So our backup plan was to create a product that we are all very familiar with as busy students – granola bars. We chose a granola bar because our target audience (millennials) value convenience, nutrition and innovation. Thus, we chose to make a unique-flavoured bar, swap out common granola ingredients and utilize pulses as much as we could have, and this is what came of it. In my opinion pulses are a very under-rated food and it was fun to promote them through our product and the whole experience in general.”
Three teams offered up their tasty pulse-based creations as well as presenting their marketing plans to judges Wanda Aubee of the Food Processing Development Centre, Registered Dietitian Jennifer Livingstone and Teresa Spinelli, owner of Italian Centre Shops.
For the first time in its history, the event was held in conjunction with the APG annual Director and Advisors meeting so that farmers from across the province could experience the excitement
and creativity that post-secondary students have when working with pulses.
“It was a great experience having Alberta producers in the Mission: ImPULSEible audience this year,” said Debra McLennan, APG’s Food and Nutrition Coordinator. “The Directors and Advisors enjoyed seeing first-hand the creativity of the students and the versatility of pulses.”
Third place went to Portage College Culinary Arts students Lacey Patenaude and Crandell Houle who created Cula Crunch, a cereal that included an autumn lentil flake blend of red, black and green lentils, as well as honey roasted chickpeas.
Second place was awarded to the University of Alberta Nutrition and Food Science students who created PeaCo Pudding, which was made with chickpea milk, red bean paste and coconut milk. The team consisted of: Yun Yang, Xuejuan Ding, and Beiyi Shen.
Dacko, along with Aleksandra Tymczak, Philip Elson, and Jeffery Duong, created the Lentola Bar, a snack bar incorporating roasted green lentils and chickpeas.
“We were all very excited and happy to see our hard work come together,” Dacko said. “It had already been a crazy learning experience and fun networking opportunity, so winning was just a nice bonus.”
Team member Tymczak explained that the group learned how to present the various aspects of their product in a convincing manner, including how pulses were incorporated, nutrition claims, the originality/creativity of the Lentola Bar, and their marketing plan. They also learned how to present their product to a wide range of audience members which included: pulse growers, dietitians, food product developers, food scientists and retail store managers.
“We also got great feedback from the judges with regard to how we could improve our product and what it would take to upscale our product for production,” Tymczak said. “For example,
we received a few comments about making changes to the product so that it could be available for customers who may be allergic to peanuts. The suggestion was to substitute the peanut butter with pea butter.”
The team also experimented with the roasting times and temperatures for the chickpeas, green lentils and red lentils to get the texture right for each pulse. Another area of fine-tuning was finding the right ingredients and mixes to bind the bars together. For example, although the sugar content is very comparable to granola bars already on the shelf, Dacko said the team wanted to improve the healthy image by lowering the sugar content – which meant lowering the addition of corn syrup, an important ingredient for binding the dry ingredients together. They worked through numerous alternative binding ingredients and processing techniques.
“Lastly, we put a lot of time and effort into perfecting our spice blend to achieve a mild yet distinguishable curry flavour,” Dacko said. “We found that spice acceptance is quite different among consumers, so this was quite a fun yet hard challenge.”
Dacko recalled that she had used chickpeas quite often prior to the competition, but rarely used other pulses.
“Now I know that other pulses, such as lentils and yellow peas, are very simple to cook and offer great interesting flavours,” she said. “They are a lot more versatile than one would think, and probably a lot more nutritious than one would think too!”
The Lentola Bar team will represent Alberta in the national virtual Mission: ImPULSEible competition in June, and they are open to future commercialization opportunities for their tasty snack bar.
“If we find ourselves with an opportunity to pursue production of the bars, there are still some improvements we would like to make to our Lentola Bars,” Tymczak said. “For example, we want to increase the nutritional content of the granola bar by increasing the amount of protein. We want to do this by incorporating various pulse protein isolates, such as pea protein isolates.”
Meanwhile, judge Spinelli touched on the Mission: ImPULSEible competition when she spoke to the APG Directors and Advisors the following day about the story of the Italian Centre Shops started by her parents and expanded to more Alberta locations.
“The students learn so much just by competing in the process,” she said, adding that the principles of telling your product’s story also apply when vendors ask her company to place their products on the shelves. “Know your product – why it’s different and why it’s good. Know what the ingredients are. Really tell your story! Really brand why you made this product and why it’s a really great product. When we know that, we like to promote that it’s local.”

Sustainability of agri-food systems has never been more important than it is today. To gain a comprehensive understanding of sustainability performance and identify opportunities for improvement, the Alberta Pulse Growers (APG) collaborated with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry (AF) to conduct an Alberta pea environmental footprint assessment using a method called life cycle assessment (LCA).
LCA is a holistic yardstick of the environmental performance of products and services. It measures how much environmental impact the production of a product contributes throughout its life. It looks at all significant environmental impacts including carbon footprint, water footprint, eutrophication, acidification, photochemical smog, etc.
“Having a published LCA number is not the overall objective of the process,” explained Nevin Rosaasen, APG’s Policy and Program Specialist. “Conducting an LCA sets a benchmark, identifies certain ‘hotspots’ where there are best management practices. Employing targeted fertility programs, and other extension opportunities to growers on how they can save money and produce food more efficiently are other motivators.”
Recently, LCA has become a mainstream method for environmental sustainability assessment being used by many agriculture commodities to measure and communicate their environmental
footprint. LCA is also being endorsed by international organizations (e.g. the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN Food and Agriculture (FAO) and the European Union (EU)) and a leading global non-profit organization such as The Sustainability Consortium (TSC).
“Using an internationally accepted method such as LCA, it provides this work with credibility, transparency and reliability,” said Aung Moe, AF’s Environmental Footprint Agrologist and a certified LCA professional. “It is clear, consistent and flexible enough to run the model repeatedly. Which means we can go back to the model again and again as new technologies, new varieties and new management practices are available.”
An LCA provides a baseline for the environmental footprint and identifies environmental hotspots (activities or operations which contribute to the greatest environmental footprint) which identify opportunities for improvement of the environmental performance. This information can also support business decision making for cost saving. Farm data from Alberta pea growers was collected for the 2015 crop year on crop yield, farm inputs (seed, inoculant, fertilizers, herbicide, fungicide and desiccant), field operations (seeding, chemical application and harvesting) and transportation distances for farm activities and deliveries. Additional information and data from regional sources (emission factors) as well as international life cycle inventory database (Ecoinvent) was used for modelling. Environmental footprints of Alberta pea from “cradle” (all inputs starting at extraction and production) to farm gate were calculated based on ISO 14040 and 14044 standards from International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
Key Findings of the LCA
Crop inputs and field operations were major contributors to the carbon footprint and other environmental footprints of Alberta pea production. Synthetic fertilizers, particularly phosphorus fertilizer and field emissions accounted for a majority of the environmental footprints from crop inputs. Fuel consumption and emissions associated with fuel combustion from field operations contributed to a large proportion of the environmental footprints from field operations. Grain drying and storage contributed to a lesser degree of environmental footprints compared to crop inputs and field operations. Environmental footprints associated with transportation were quite negligible, accounting for less than one per cent of total environmental footprints.
Alberta pea’s carbon footprint was 0.183 kg CO2-e/kg of pea at farm gate. The unit is carbon dioxide equivalent, meaning all greenhouse gases in a common unit. Alberta pea production contributed to a lower carbon footprint than other crops because of less nitrogen (N) fertilizer required and the adoption of a no-till system. Less N fertilizer requirement for pea production reduces the nitrous oxide emissions (which is more potent than carbon dioxide and has a great global warming impact), resulting in a lower carbon footprint.
Additionally, a no-till system requires fewer passes for field operations, resulting in less fuel consumption and a lower carbon footprint.
“Compared to other regional, national and international LCA studies of pea production, Alberta pea’s carbon footprint is lower than any other study due to Alberta’s higher crop yield and lower fertilizer application rate,” Moe said.
However, phosphorus (P) (applied as P2O5) fertilizer application rate for pea production varies widely from farm to farm. Therefore, improving fertilizer use efficiency is one of the opportunities for improvement areas for reducing the environmental footprints and increasing resource use efficiency.
“We now have a starting point to build from,” Rosaasen noted, adding that this LCA is preliminary, and APG will continue to revisit the process with more robust numbers. “The industry knows Canada has the most sustainable cropping practices, where we can do more with less. This preliminary exercise exemplifies why Alberta and Canada is the number one sought after supplier for sustainably grown and healthy protein sources.”
Lessons learned from the LCA
LCA results provide a better understanding of which farm inputs or operations contribute to the greatest environmental footprints. The results highlight that tillage management and efficient
fertilizer management play a major role in reduction of the overall environmental footprints of Alberta pea production. Crop yield is a major factor that determines resource use efficiency, productivity and profitability of crop production. Improving crop yield enhances resource use efficiency and reduces overall environmental footprints.
Next steps
The results of this work are useful for benchmarking environmental footprints and provides credible information to communicate progress on environmental performance of Alberta pea production over time. The results will also be used to develop an on-farm footprint calculator. The on-farm footprint calculator will provide an interactive framework to explore potential improvement opportunities for environmental performance and resource use efficiency.
“Using the on-farm footprint calculator, growers will have the ability to play around with key parameters of their production system such as crop yield, fertilizer application rate, number of passes for field operations, etcetera, to better understand the relationship between crop inputs, crop yield and environmental footprint,” Moe explained. “The calculator will provide a comparison of results between the grower’s own farm and the average provincial grower.”
The LCA is an effective way to communicate information on the product’s environmental footprints to stakeholders across supply chains. This LCA work will support the Alberta pulse industry in demonstrating sustainability leadership and environmental stewardship locally and globally. Additional potential and use for the LCA results provide a platform to develop an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) which is a business-to-business (B2B) environmental communication for transparency and consistency. EPD’s are becoming increasingly used as a tool for product differentiation and brand promotion.
Funding for this project was provided in part through Growing Forward 2, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative. The views and opinions expressed in this report are not necessarily those of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada or Alberta Agriculture and Forestry.

This article appeared in the Spring 2016 issue of Pulse Crop News.

Chuck Penner, LeftField Commodity Research

One of the most useful indicators of potential direction in a market is the seasonal price tendency. In a typical year, crop prices (including pulses) tend to follow similar patterns. Even though these movements aren’t always a sure thing, the charts can provide clues about when a price change could occur. Some seasonal patterns, such as “the harvest lows”, are predictable enough to influence marketers’ decisions.

While those lows caused by heavy farmer selling at harvest are well-established, other seasonal patterns are also useful if they point to possible timing of market highs. That’s particularly the case in the 2015/16 market where most pulse prices are extremely high and farmers are trying to maximize prices but avoid holding the crop too long.

The difficulty is that price patterns tend to be most reliable in a “normal” year when supply and demand are relatively well-balanced. Does that mean they’re irrelevant in 2015/16, when many pulse prices are already sky-high? We’ll look at some price tendencies in light of the current hot market environment to see what lessons are possible.

For peas, prices tend to rise steadily once the harvest rush is over and then go sideways in the November to December timeframe. Once the new calendar year starts, bids tend to start climbing again. Those patterns have generally held so far in 2015/16, although the changes have been much more extreme, especially for yellow peas. The chart also shows that these seasonal highs tend to remain in place until early to mid-May, when buyers start to look ahead to the next year’s crop. It’s possible this year’s tight pea supplies could mean more upside than usual and a delayed decline, but it’s also likely that when the drop occurs, it will be much sharper than usual.

Lentils have the same seasonal lows as peas at harvest time but lentil prices follow different tendencies than peas and the two main lentil classes have distinct differences. Green lentil prices tend to recover quickly from the harvest lows and reach their highs in the late fall. Bids then tend to turn slightly lower with a small bump in late spring or early summer. This year, that hasn’t been the case as exceptionally tight supplies have forced buyers to continue raising bids to encourage farmer selling.

The tendency for red lentil bids is to remain relatively flat through the fall months and then rise fairly steadily through the winter and spring. In 2015/16, the strength in red lentil bids began earlier than usual. More recently, market jitters at the extreme highs are causing bids to look a little more vulnerable. That doesn’t necessarily signal the end of strong old-crop prices, but there is certainly more volatility. And when the midsummer decline begins, it will very likely be a sharp drop.

So what are the takeaways? The first is that pricing the 2016 crop should either be done now when new-crop bids are strong, or well after harvest. The problem this year is that those bids for fall delivery have been so attractive, a lot of contracting has been done already and some bids are already declining. Even so, most new-crop bids for peas and lentils are well above other years and are still profitable.

These seasonal tendencies also clearly demonstrate that prices will eventually fall, even in an unusually tight supply situation like the one in 2015/16. Prices won’t keep going higher forever, and the normal patterns suggest when that shift might occur. It’s not a sure thing, but it’s certainly better than strictly guessing.

For the time being, the seasonal charts don’t show any immediate danger of lower prices for either peas or lentils, but this is an unusual year. And when prices are at extreme highs, they tend to come down very quickly. Those who wait too long to market their pulses will likely end up feeling some pain.

This article appeared in the Spring 2016 issue of Pulse Crop News.

The Alberta Pulse Growers (APG) selected esteemed pulse researcher Ken Lopetinsky as the winner of the second annual Alberta Pulse Industry Innovator Award.

“Each year APG recognizes a person whose progressive thinking and tireless efforts helped build Alberta’s pulse industry into the flourishing industry that it is today,” said Rick Mueller, Zone 3 Chair. “I cannot think of a more deserving recipient for the award to be bestowed upon during the International Year of Pulses than Ken Lopetinsky. He is considered one of the fathers of Western Canada’s modern day field pea industry, and influenced many of the researchers who continue to develop improved pulse genetics.”

Lopetinsky was raised on a mixed livestock and grain farm near Star, AB. After earning a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture with distinction in 1973 at the University of Alberta, he joined Alberta Agriculture as a District Agriculturist, and later as Forage and Special Crops Specialist, Pulse and Special Crops Specialist, and Pulse Research Agronomist until his retirement in 2008. In 1976, Lopetinsky received education leave and completed his Master of Agriculture (soil science) in 1977.

In 1983, Lopetinsky became involved with the Alberta Pulse Growers Association, which later became the Alberta Pulse Growers Commission. Throughout his career, Lopetinsky worked closely with producers, industry representatives and other researchers on applied research projects including field pea and faba bean variety development, fertilization, herbicides, seeding depth, land rolling, crop rotations, direct seeding, and the value of pulse crops in rotation. He co-authored and co-edited the publication “Pulse Crops in Alberta,” which was awarded a certificate of excellence by the American Society of Agronomy. Lopetinsky mentored numerous agrologists over the course of his career, and many still work in the industry today.

Lopetinsky said that he was honoured to learn that he was chosen as the recipient of the second annual Industry Innovator Award sponsored by ATB Financial.

“I am surprised and humbled to receive this award,” Lopetinsky said. “I have to give a lot of credit to the team over the years because it has been said that ‘you’re only as good as your team’. The pulse industry came through with full support, and that was very, very rewarding.”

Sheri Strydhorst, an Agronomy Research Scientist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, considers herself fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with Lopetinsky.

“Ken was one of the founding members of Alberta’s pulse industry,” she said. “He screened pea, faba bean and lupin genetics from around the world to find the best cultivars for Alberta farmers. He knew what struggles farmers faced and conducted meticulous research to find solutions to their pulse production challenges. The best example I can think of is the Ascochyta scoring card (which is still being used today) to help producers make decisions about when fungicide applications are beneficial in pea crops. Ken’s pulse production knowledge, meticulous research, and connection to the farm has formed the foundation of Alberta’s successful pulse industry. I am incredibly fortunate to have been trained by such a knowledgeable and passionate individual. Ken, you truly are a Pulse Industry Innovator. Thank you for your countless contributions to this great industry.”

Lopetinsky recalled the early days of pulse production in Alberta when he accepted the Innovator Award at the Alberta Pulse Growers’ AGM on Jan. 27.

“The Pulse Growers Commission is a very integral part of any success,” he noted. “As I reminisce about my career, I always think of the directors of the commission and all the time volunteered to discuss issues was fantastic.”

Lopetinsky also credited his wife Vivian with being essential to his success.

“Thank you to my wife,” he said, noting that he put in long days at the research plots. “Now we have a cell phone, but back in those days we didn’t even have a computer. A lot of calls came to the house and my wife, Vivian, kept track.”

In retirement, the couple still enjoy growing over 1,000 orchids together, some of which are sold at the Orchid Society of Alberta annual show and sale at the Enjoy Centre in St. Albert on April 1-3, 2016. The hobby started over 30 years ago with Blue Heron Orchids.

“I always loved to grow things and still do, hence the orchids,” Lopetinsky said.

He expressed his delight at having the United Nations designate 2016 as International Year of Pulses.

“I was very happy to hear that and I hope it’s not just a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” he said. “I hope that there are more opportunities for people to talk about pulse crops. Please take full advantage of International Year of Pulses. It’s a great opportunity.”

This article appeared in the Spring 2017 issue of Pulse Crop News.

Lentils were a small acreage crop in Alberta until strong export demand from markets like India helped drive an increase in acres. Until recently, both red and green lentil types were insured based on a large green type, but the increase in red lentil acreage created an opportunity to give them distinct and separate coverage. Starting in 2017, Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) will provide lentil growers with insurance coverage that reflects differences for each type.

Recently, the increasingly divergent trends for green and red lentils have caught the eye of various stakeholders in the pulse industry. Red lentils have driven the acreage expansion while greens have only experienced modest increases in the last few years.

Acreage allocated to lentils in the province has grown consistently over the last decade, and the estimate for the total lentil acreage in the province is now over 400,000.

Given the increased production of red lentils in a consistent pattern, AFSC will separate red and green lentils to give red lentils distinct insurance coverage and indemnification. “In reaching this decision, pulse growers helped significantly in understanding the workings of the lentil market,” said Jesse Cole, Research Analyst for Innovation and Product Development at AFSC.

Under the new practice, coverage and indemnification for red and green lentils will be calculated separately and based on the current market prices. Yield history averages for the two products will remain the same for calculation purposes in 2017, but they will begin to diverge in 2018 as yields are experienced.

“Splitting them will be a positive change for red lentil growers because of the accuracy that it will bring in pricing,“ Cole said.

Spring price endorsement (SPE) and variable price benefit calculations will also be separately made for red lentils in 2017.

But the change focusing on red lentils will not affect other small acre crops, with “other” lentils, such as French Greens and Spanish Browns, still receiving the same coverage as green lentils.

Unharvested acres pose a challenge for farmers and AFSC

Due to the excessive moisture and early snowfall in October and November last year, many farmers were unable to get their crop off the ground. By mid-February, producers had reported 967,569 acres as unharvested. As a result, AFSC has been processing an unusually high number of claims over the last few months. While the numbers are high, established claim inspection standards are strictly upheld by AFSC’s team of qualified and experienced inspectors.

And it is that commitment to a high inspection standard that explains why the claims processing is not proceeding faster. As each and every on-farm inspector employed by AFSC is trained and equipped with a special skillset that qualifies them for their position, employing temporary inspectors for a job that requires expertise and specialization is not considered by the Corporation to be a proper solution to speed up claim processing.

However, extra measures are being taken to address the extraordinarily high number of claims. Among these steps are allocating available resources to high demand areas and plans to combine inspections of wildlife damage with those of unharvested crop in the fields.

Despite the above average number of claims, as of February 24, a total of 1,531 claims, covering more than 75 per cent of eligible unharvested acreage have been processed with $27.2 million paid in benefits. “We estimate processing unharvested acreage benefits will be completed mid-March,” said Daniel Graham, Manager, Financial Analysis, Analysis Solutions at AFSC.

Contact a Branch Office if wildlife damage discovered

The number of wildlife damage claims is expected to rise as snow melts away and farmers determine the state of their crop still on the ground. Producers should apply to the Wildlife Damage Compensation Program (WDCP) if they identify wildlife damage on their unharvested crops. If a producer has plans to put their crops to another use, they should contact their local AFSC Branch Office and indicate their requests for both pre-harvest and wildlife damage inspection, as those inspections can occur simultaneously.

The WDCP is in place to bring relief to farmers whose crops are affected by wildlife. There is no requirement for farmers to have an insurance policy with AFSC to be eligible for support under WDCP. Inspection requests must be submitted, and AFSC will need to inspect the damage before the crop can be harvested or put to another use. Information about the number of processed and pending claims is updated weekly on the AFSC website.

Producers who wish to apply to or receive more information about the Wildlife Damage Compensation Program are advised to contact their local AFSC Branch Office, call the AFSC Client Contact Centre at 1-877-899-2372 or visit www.afsc.ca.

This article appeared in the Spring 2017 issue of Pulse Crop News.

Nevin Rosaasen, APG Policy & Program Specialist

When it comes to minimizing agricultural impact on the climate, and specifically carbon dioxide levels, the Alberta cropping sector has exemplified climate change leadership.

Yes. That’s correct. Alberta broad-acre cropping systems have evolved over time to be one of the greatest allies in the global quest to decarbonize our economy. Imagine your fields as massive solar collectors for energy and calories, but also an atmospheric carbon filtration and sequestration biological super machine like no other on Earth.

The management practices producers have adopted are numerous, and include aspects of continuous cropping, soil conservation from minimum tillage, adoption of GPS and precision guidance, sectional control in sprayers and planters, and adopting new genetics that have higher water use efficiency, nutrient use efficiency as well as soil sampling.

All of these practices reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. Many producers haven’t realized that they are leaders in taking action on climate change. In the early 2000s, scientists already recognized that the Canadian cropping sector was a net negative contributor to greenhouse gases due to changes in practices and the ability to sequester carbon.

So why aren’t Alberta producers being recognized for their actions? Why are they paying a carbon tax?

Alberta has been leading the way in conservation cropping offset protocol development, and the use of carbon offsets combined with taxing large final emitters in the creation of a quasi-market-based system combining tax and trade, in order to meet climate goals.

These offsets and protocols continue to be developed, recalculated and scrutinized in order to ensure the objectives of government are met. The current government objective is to decarbonize the Alberta economy by taxing the externality (C02), which is a by-product of combustion of fossil fuels and whose concentrations continue to climb in the atmosphere. So why aren’t producers getting paid if they are sequestering more carbon than they emit?

The answer is, it’s complicated. Many protocols are developed before the science is settled and they often need to be tweaked in order to capture the three elements of a proven offset, protocol or ecosystem service being provided. The three factors determining quality offsets include permanence, baseline and additionality. The tests are: Is the carbon sequestered permanent in nature, is the baseline for comparison appropriate and is the practice change additional to business as usual?

As the government finds its way through current policy pertaining to taxing carbon and rewarding those companies, corporations and producers such as yourselves who are reducing their climatic impact, it is important that producer commissions communicate what advances the cropping sector has made in this area. New technologies already exist, and their commercialization and adoption tomorrow and into the future will continue to advance the way agriculture is done in Alberta.

Be proud of the climate leadership you have exemplified – You are already doing it! The trick lies in communicating to urban cousins and neighbours, as well as politicians, as to how we are producing food in the most economical, efficient and cost effective way possible – a method that not only make economic cents, but climate sense all at the same time.