Growing Pulse Crops

Codee Lee is a technical specialist for CHS. Half of his job is research of their proprietary products like fertility products, biologicals, crop protection and adjuvants. The other half of his job is communicating about that research with customers and growers in general. Lee shares the purpose of adjuvants and the advantage they provide producers especially when facing adverse environmental factors. Dr. Audrey Kalil joins this episode as co-host. A plant pathologist by training and background, Kalil is currently an Agronomist and Outreach Coordinator at Horizon Resources and producer of this podcast. “ I've been doing small plot research for 15 years already, and how these products perform and how much benefit these adjuvants will give you is very, very dependent on our environment. The more adversity in the environment, the more benefit you get out of these adjuvants. I'm not going to sit here and say that they're a silver bullet, but for us, specifically up here in adverse environments, they can be really a handy tool in the toolbox to help kind of plateau that performance across our different spraying conditions.” - Codee LeeThis Week on Growing Pulse Crops:Meet Codee Lee, a technical specialist for CHSDiscover the purpose, method and impact in adding adjuvants to in-putsExplore how factors including crop variety, risk of crop injury, environmental factors and type of herbicide available can help determine what best steps a producer can take to optimize their weed managementGrowing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Dr. Lars Kamphuis is an associate professor at Curtin University and the deputy director of the Center for Crop Disease Management where he focuses on crop diseases that impact Australian farmers. The center collaborates extensively with state departments and universities around the country to research diseases relevant to growers throughout Australia. Kamphuis was born and raised in The Netherlands and studied plant breeding and crop protection at Wageningen University. He then had the opportunity to do research in Australia and says he just never left. In this episode, he shares about his experiences with lupins and why the crop is fitting in well in some Australian rotations. He also discusses his work with Sclerotiania stem rot, fungicide resistance and the ascochyta issues Australian farmers have had to deal with. “ A lupin is kind of what we would call an orphan crop. It's not very well known around the globe, but it has a tremendous value. So it does really well in sandy and acidic soils, which is particularly a problem here in Western Australia. So for some of our Australian grain growers, where they have to give breaks to their cereal and canola crops, they need a viable pulse crop in these sandy acidic soils and lupins are a perfect fit.” - Dr. Lars KamphuisThis Week on Growing Pulse Crops:Meet Dr. Lars Kamphuis, an associate professor at Curtin University and the deputy director of the Center for Crop Disease ManagementExplore the introduction and benefits to adding Lupins in pulse crop rotations in AustraliaUnderstand the challenges of Sclerotiania stem rot, fungicide resistance and ascochyta issues faced by Australian farmers Learn more about the ongoing ascochyta research from our episode in season two with Dr. Kampuis’s colleague, Dr. Jenny DavidsonGrowing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Today’s episode goes behind the scenes of pulse crop disease diagnostics with Dr. Uta McKelvy, Dr. Raissa Moura and Erin Gunnink Troth. They explain how Montana State University’s Regional Pulse Crop Diagnostic Laboratory provides post-harvest seed testing for replanting and export phytosanitary needs (including an Ascochyta-plus fungal screen and regulated nematode tests). Dr. McKelvy contrasts this with the Schutter Lab’s in-season plant health diagnostics for crops and other plant-related services, outlining how samples are evaluated and how environmental conditions influence what diseases are seen. "Think of the diagnostic labs: Schutter and the Regional Pulse Diagnostic Lab as just resources that are available to you that you should take advantage of. Why guessing and wondering if you could know, right? I want to point out from the Schutter side of view, we're not just sending you a report that says you have this - good luck. Every report includes information on the disease and the pathogen, and emphasizes management recommendations.” - Uta McKelvy, Ph.D. Resources: Schutter Diagnostic Lab: https://www.montana.edu/extension/diagnostics/ Regional Pulse Crop Diagnostic Lab: https://plantsciences.montana.edu/pulsecropdiagnosticlab/ Annual Report: https://www.montana.edu/extension/diagnostics/annual-report.html MSU Ag and Urban Alerts: https://www.montana.edu/extension/ipm/alerts/ Extension Plant Pathology website: https://www.montana.edu/extension/plantpath/resources/ This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:00:00 Why Guess When You Can Know01:46 Meet the Pulse Lab Team02:38 How the Pulse Lab Started06:39 Funding and Lab Support07:42 Seed Tests and Export Nematodes12:15 Sampling and Disease Trends16:40 What to Do With Results17:55 Schutter Lab Overview22:36 How Plant Diagnosis Works29:09 Trends and What They See33:45 Final Takeaways and Resources38:13 Wrap Up and Next Episode TeaserGrowing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Dr. Chelsea Didinger is the founder of the online platform "A Legume A Day.” Didinger uses her PhD in nutrition to share her passion for the benefits of beans and legumes. She highlights not just their health advantages but also their role in sustainable agriculture through her online platform and presence. In this episode today, she discusses the global trends in pulse consumption, the nutritional benefits that make them a perfect food, and practical ways to incorporate more pulses into everyday meals. “ I want people to know that it doesn't have to be hard. Again, you could sometimes make those swaps, like have a pulse based pasta or sometimes add chickpea flour to your baking, or pick the dishes that you really like and just add pulses to that, or crisp up some chickpeas, crisp up some lentils, and just sprinkle those on. It doesn't have to be hard. There are canned products. You can cook from dry. Whatever fits into your schedule and works realistically, you don't want to set this goal that's unattainable. So I think that's a good place to start.” - Dr. Chelsea DidingerThis Week on Growing Pulse Crops:Meet Dr. Chelsea Didinger, the founder of "A Legume A Day” who uses her PhD in nutrition to share her passion for the benefits of beans and legumesExplore why Didinger feels pulses are the “perfect food” and the many different uses she proposes that consumers might not initially consider to incorporate pulses into their dietsDiscover bonus benefits to pulses including protein, fiber, complex carbohydrates, and additional phytonutrients and phytochemicalsGrowing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Marlene Boersch is the co-founder of Mercantile Consulting Venture based in Winnipeg, Canada. She founded the company about 22 years ago after spending over 20 years as a trader focused on Canadian pulse trading. Marlene and her team concentrate on providing market intelligence to farmers and grower associations for not only pulses, but also canola, wheat, oats and corn.Boersch shares about the current supply and demand dynamics for peas, chickpeas and lentils around the world and reflects on what she’s watching in these markets in 2026. We discuss the evolution of these markets over the year, the current situation after the 2025 crop, new opportunities and challenges ahead for global demand, and what developing stories she’s keeping a close eye on because of their potential to move the markets.“ I think that a huge milestone was entering the bulk markets. We are still talking agricultural markets, so price sensitivity is extremely important.” - Marlene BoerschThis Week on Growing Pulse Crops:Meet Marlene Boersch is the co-founder of Mercantile Consulting Venture based in Winnipeg, CanadaUnderstand the evolution of the pulse crop market from the perspective of a seasoned trader and market analystExplore what Marlene expects the markets to provide for pulse growers in 2026Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Greg Stamp is the seed sales manager at Stamp Seeds, which he runs with his two brothers, Matthew and Nathan. Stamp Seeds grows and processes retail pedigreed seed for about 60 different crops based out of Enchant, Alberta. Included in that long list of crops are some pulses like peas, chickpeas, lentils, and our subject for today’s episode, faba beans. Greg shares all things faba beans including markets, varieties, agronomic practices, pest and disease considerations, harvesting and more. “ The market I think where there's some value is domestic. It's the people that are fractionating and it's the trend, you know, what's the next new hot protein? Past peas, it's faba beans… They're higher protein than peas and so that's why they want to use them. And then they have a different taste and flavor profile and fractionation. So that's why they're going that way. And so you're going to see more and more of them used in food products as time goes on.” - Greg StampThis Week on Growing Pulse Crops:Meet Greg Stamp, the seed sales manager at Stamp SeedsDiscover all things faba beans including markets, varieties, agronomic practices and more.Explore unique techniques for pest management of faba beansListen to referenced guest Chuck Penner discuss drivers of supply and demand for pulse cropsReview integrated pest management with Dr. Hector Carcamo from a previous episodeVisit Stampseeds.com to learn more about faba beans Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast. 

Dr. Michael Wunsch is a Plant Pathologist at the Carrington Research Extension Center at North Dakota State University. He holds a Ph.D. from Cornell University in 2010, and has worked for NDSU ever since, focused on disease management problems on a wide breadth of crops grown in North Dakota. This episode is a follow up to the last episode where Michael focused on understanding disease biology and diagnosis of Ascochyta Blight of chickpea. Today we’re going to go deeper into what it takes to control ascochyta, and specifically how to optimize fungicide applications.When it comes to managing fungal diseases, fungicide resistance is a growing and very concerning issue. Just like you may have heard about herbicide resistance in weed management, we are seeing the same problems in fungal diseases: spraying the same group of chemistries that attack a site in a fungus eventually leads to individuals that mutate. That mutation in the fungus persists as those that are susceptible die off and that leaves room for the resistant strains to proliferate. This happens over time, but at first it can seem negligible, until the resistant strains take over and it appears to happen over night. So today, Michael is going to walk us through three critical areas of fungal disease management: product choice, timing and droplet size. “ So essentially what you want to do is you want to spray your tank mix at early bloom before your first rain as you get into bloom. We're talking at that point, you're typically looking at absolute trace levels of disease. Your goal is to keep it from spreading because at that stage you can control it.” - Michael Wunsch, Ph.D.This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:Hear from Dr. Michael Wunsch, a Plant Pathologist at the Carrington Research Extension Center at North Dakota State University.Explore  what it takes to control ascochyta in chickpeaUnderstand how to optimize fungicide applications, including product considerations, timing and nozzle settingsGrowing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Dr. Sabine Banniza is a professor of pulse crop pathology and a member of the Crop Development Centre (CDC) at the University of Saskatchewan. Her research program is focused on pulse crop pathology with particular emphasis on problems in Saskatchewan. The overarching theme of Dr. Banniza’s research program is to study the biology of fungal and bacterial pathogens and their interaction with host plants.In today’s episode, Dr. Banniza focuses on two important diseases in lentil: Anthracnose and Stemphylium blight. She is an expert on the pathogen biology and plant-pathogen interactions, and she gives us a lot of useful background on when they first started appearing in Canada, how problematic they are, and how to diagnose and manage each of these. “ Using all of the molecular tools we have now, we’re trying to get that resistance from the wild relative into our cultivated species, and then breed race zero resistance as well. Because I think that will help a lot, and it’s really needed in particular now that we see these issues with fungicide insensitivity .” - Sabine Banniza, Ph.D.This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:Meet Sabine Banniza, Ph.D., professor of pulse crop pathology and a member of the Crop Development Centre (CDC) at the University of Saskatchewan.Explore two important diseases in lentil: Anthracnose and Stemphylium blight.Understand the pathogen biology and plant-pathogen interactions of these two lentil diseasesDiscover useful background on when these diseases first started appearing in Canada, how problematic they are, and how to diagnose and manage each of them.  Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast. 

Dr. Kevin McPhee is a pulse crop breeder at Montana State University. He’s been there for just over eight years after building a similar program in pulse crop breeding at North Dakota State University. Prior to that, he was working on pulse crops with the USDA ARS based in Pullman, Washington. Together we discuss the pulse crop breeding program in Montana, including their goals for the program in pea, chickpea and lentils. He describes varieties they’ve released and what’s in the pipeline that growers might want to know about for the future. “ What really separates the winter peas from the spring peas and gives them the advantage is when we have a dry year and there isn't the in-season moisture rains for the spring crop. With the winter peas already in the ground…they don't have to worry about planting them in the spring. That's one big advantage. And then they can take advantage of all of the winter moisture that's in the soil and any of the spring rains that occur. They flower a month ahead of the spring types. So they're well on their way before we get into the heat of the summer and the potential dry conditions, and that's where they shine.” - Dr. Kevin McPheeThis Week on Growing Pulse Crops:Meet Dr. Kevin McPhee, a pulse crop breeder at Montana State UniversityDiscover new pulse crop varieties that are being introduced and the benefits they offer producersExplore major advantages offered by winter peas that may benefit producers looking to be more water efficientGrowing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast. 

Dr. Brian Jenks is a weed scientist at North Dakota State University based in Minot. Jenks has been in this role since 1997 and over that time he has seen an alarming rise in resistance to many of our herbicides from certain weeds, especially in kochia. In this episode, Jenks shares about the latest in kochia management including what’s working and not working, which products have built up resistance and which products are still effective. We also talk about a few other key weeds like palmer amaranth, wild oat and green foxtail. “ And if there's anybody listening who's thinking about using Tough on lentil, please call me before you use it because there's some things that you need to know. I mean just reading the label, you're not going to have sufficient information because all they say on there is spray 6 to 20 ounces and oh, by the way, you can tank mix with Metribuzin. Well, that is a recipe for potential disaster if you do that. Because we need to talk rates, we need to talk timing, we need to talk adjuvants, and I'm encouraging growers to do this only as a last resort because you will see severe injury.” - Dr. Brian JenksThis Week on Growing Pulse Crops:Meet Dr. Brian Jenks, a weed scientist at North Dakota State University based in Minot, NDDiscover the rising risk of herbicide resistance in weed management especially with the weed kochiaLearn the process to evaluate the type of kochia resistance producers may be facing and how to get that service for freeUnderstand the significance of a weed being on the noxious weed list and the impact that has on producersContact Dr. Brian Jenks with any of your weed biology or herbicide questions at (701) 857-7677Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast. 

Dr. Ian Burke is a weed scientist at Washington State University. His work focuses on weed biology and ecology, and he does a lot of work with herbicides. Dr. Burke discusses his research evaluating herbicides for use in peas, lentils and chickpeas and how to manage herbicide carry over issues that can impact these crops. This is the deep dive into herbicide carry over that you might not have even realized you needed.“ We have not enough moisture during the summer to break down the herbicides and not enough heat units during the winter to break down the herbicides. So we really have sort of a perfect storm, a very unique situation, in the United States where herbicides applied in our important rotational crop like wheat persists for far longer than than anywhere else.”  - Ian Burke, Ph.D.This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:Meet Ian Burke, Ph.D. and learn about cropping systems in his area of the Pacific NorthwestUnderstand herbicide carryover and the factors that causes herbicide persistence like the characteristics of the products themselves, environmental conditions, and soil propertiesDiscover how farmers can manage herbicide carryover while still maintaining the efficacy of their herbicide program. Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast. 

Chuck Penner founded Leftfield Commodity Research in 2010. The company provides market analysis and economic research focused on the crops that are important to farmers in Western Canada and the northern parts of the US. Penner shares about the global marketplace for peas, chickpeas and lentils. This episode was recorded on January 10th, 2025.“ One of the things that I've been telling Canadian farmers… is to forget about being the only show in town anymore. Now you have Australia producing more red lentils than Canada does. You have Russia, you have Kazakhstan, and you have the US production going up there as well too…So you need to think globally about not just demand, but the supplies as well.” - Chuck PennerPenner shares about drivers both on the supply side and the demand side that are impacting the trajectory of these global and domestic markets. Through his many newsletters and research projects he aims to keep producers informed about the current state of industries they need to know about. He shares the potential impact on the pulse crop market of different tariffs and what that could mean for producers“ In some ways geopolitics is a factor that's always there, but this year it's kind of amped up a lot and not just in Canadian-US trade, but Canada and India and Canada and China and those types of things where you have potential for those sudden moves.”  - Chuck PennerThis Week on Growing Pulse Crops:Meet Chuck Penner founder of Leftfield Commodity Research where they provide market analysis and economic research focused on the crops in Western Canada and the northern parts of the USExplore the potential impact of tariffs on the pulse crop markets and what producers need to knowDiscover the growing global pulse crop markets and the impact that can have on North American pricesGrowing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast. 

Kim Sauressig is a fourth generation farmer in Central North Dakota where he grows a wide range of crops including corn, wheat, durum, barley, soybeans, lentils, chickpeas and pinto beans. He also raised cattle until a few years ago when they decided to focus exclusively on crops. When not farming, Kim chairs the North Dakota Dry Pea & Lentil Council and has a seat on the USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council where he serves as the chair of the research committee. Kim shares his journey into pulse crops, what roles they play in his overall rotations, the value of associations like the USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council, and why he believes more farmers should consider including pulse crops in their crop rotations. “So we started seeding pintos and we were putting a little bit of “N” down. My agronomist called me and he got our soil test back from the laboratory and he is like, just drop your fertilizer. He said, “You don't have to put anything down.” And I truthfully, honestly think that that's because the lentils from the two years previous had fixated it in there. We didn't need it anymore.” - Kim SauressigKim highlights the many benefits of pulse crops that he has experienced including their nitrogen fixation capabilities and their efficiency with water use. Through his work on the North Dakota Dry Pea and Lentil Council and the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council he has expanded his personal network to include many agronomists and research scientists that have really helped him not only fine tune his operation but also support future pulse crop growers. He goes on to share the many advantages the councils offers producers by way of research and financial support.“Your revenue protections and your crop insurances and stuff, that's kind of directly put together by the US Dry Pea and Lentil Council….They were a dog in the fight that helped get dollars to come back into the specialty crop side of things. I mean we're talking millions and millions of dollars that went back to producers that were growing pulse crops that were very, very beneficial.”  - Kim SauressigThis Week on Growing Pulse Crops:Meet Kim Sauressig, a fourth generation farmer in Central North Dakota, chair of the North Dakota Dry Pea & Lentil Council and chair of the research committee on the USA Dry Pea & Lentil CouncilDiscover Kim’s experiences with pulse crops and the insights he has gained from participating in both the North Dakota Dry Pea and Lentil Council and the USA Dry Pea and Lentil CouncilGrowing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.