ALBERTA RANCHER AIMS TO BE MORE THAN JUST SUSTAINABLE
PLANTS TALK TO EACH OTHER — AND FARMERS SHOULD EAVESDROP
Stewardship award winner says, ‘I want to go beyond sustainability’ » PG 3
Expert says understanding the secret world of plants has ‘huge’ implications » PG 2 Publications Mail Agreement # 40069240
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Climate change equals more grass fires, says expert Farmers should be aware of this danger and take steps to reduce the risk BY JENNIFER BLAIR
Give peas a chance — the future looks bright Acreage may plummet in the coming year, but the new processing plants are laying the foundation for a surge in production
AF staff
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his year’s spate of wildfires across the western Prairies were not an anomaly, but rather a “glimpse into the future” for Alberta farmers. “In Canada, our area burned has doubled since the 1970s, and I — and a number of others — attribute this to climate change,” said Mike Flannigan, a professor with the department of renewable resources at the University of Alberta. “Our weather is becoming more conducive to fire. Whether you believe it’s due to human activities or not, that fact of the matter is the climate is changing, and we’re seeing more extreme fire weather. And we expect to see more in the future.” On average, temperatures in Canada have warmed by about 1.3 C over the past 75 years, and will likely continue to rise further, said Flannigan. And those increased temperatures will lead to increased incidence of wildfire. “The warmer it gets, the more fire we have,” he said. Wildfires need three ingredients: fuel (such as crops, grasses, shrubs, and trees), an
see Climate change } page 6
Pulses are being used as ingredients in a growing list of products — from pasta to pet foods — and that has experts predicting acreage of peas, lentils, and other pulses will rise sharply over the longer term. PHOTO: PULSE CANADA VIDEO BY ALEXIS KIENLEN AND GLENN CHEATER AF STAFF
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ere’s some counterintuitive advice: Think about growing peas in 2018. That’s a suggestion from Alan Hall, who has kept a close watch on the pulse sector in his role as ‘new initiatives and project hunter’ with the Alberta Crop Industry Development Fund. As such, Hall is well aware of the recent plunge in pea prices, and predictions that pea acreage on the Prairies could plummet by a million or more acres next year. But the future for the pulse crop is bright and if you haven’t grown them — or have limited experience with them — peas should have a spot in your rotation next year, said Hall. “I’d put a field or two (of peas) in as opposed to gambling too much —
peas look very promising in the long term, as do lentils and fababeans,” he said. “For some, growing peas is a new experience. The Alberta Pulse Growers Commission had over 900 new growers in 2017. The bulk of those were new growers of peas.” And while anyone with peas in the bin will be concerned about the drop in pea prices that followed last month’s decision by India to impose a 50 per cent tariff on the crop, the long-term trend is farmers’ friend, said Hall. “There is some trending in global consumer markets that are really pushing demand for plant-based proteins,” he said. “There’s this kind of drive happening in North America, happening in Europe, happening in Asia. You’ve got a lot of world population pushing this. “The response to that has been the investment world saying, ‘Look at the Canadian Prairies and all these pulse proteins are pretty much desired because of their functionalities and
GOOD NEWS AND BAD
how they fit into the food formulations, beverage formulations, those kinds of things.’” India has been the biggest market for Canadian dry peas, importing about one million tonnes annually over the last few years. It would take a huge amount of processing to equal that, but the signs are good, say both Hall and Pulse Canada CEO Gordon Bacon. “Non-traditional applications in food products are the reason why I’m very confident in the pulse industry long term,” said Bacon. A new plant being built by French pulse giant Roquette in Portage la Prairie, Man., will be the privately owned company’s biggest facility (it has 20 worldwide) and consume 125,000 tonnes annually. A Verdient Foods plant near Saskatoon (partly owned by famous director James Cameron) is being converted to organic and a
see peas } page 6
2017 WAS AN UNUSUAL YEAR } PAGE 18