22 Follow us on @PrairieFarming Better Farming | July/August 2024 Jodie Aldred photo Update on Pulses For decades now, the benefits of pulses have been touted by commodity groups and media. We’re told pulses are good for farmers, consumers, and that demand potential is barely tapped. One group, Alberta Pulse Growers, has long sought to achieve its vision of “pulses on every farm, on every plate.” But the sector remains a long way from reaching that goal. Are pulses, in fact, a niche in Canadian agriculture? And can they ever be more than that? Acreage and production Commenting on the growth of pulse acres in Western Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada spokesperson Bronwyn Goodman points out that seeded area of pulses rose about two million acres in 20 years. That’s true: Statistics Canada in spring 2024 forecast pulse acres to reach 7.7 million this year, up from about 5.5 million in 2004. “This is mostly due to an increase in lentil seeded area in Western Canada, particularly in the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta,” Goodman says. Almost 90 per cent of Canada’s lentils are grown in Saskatchewan, where seeded area rose from 1.8 million acres in 2004 to Statistics Canada’s spring estimate of almost 3.4 million in 2024. However, lentil acres during the decade between 2014 and 2024 were higher than StatCan’s new crop estimate seven times. And Saskatchewan’s lentil acreage peaked in 2016 at 5.1 million. In Alberta, lentil seeded area rose dramatically in 20 years, from 18,000 acres in 2004 to StatCan’s predicted 451,000 in 2024. But the latter is actually a 3.7 per cent decrease from 2023. Further, the 2024 estimate has also been bested in 2016, 2017, and 2022. “While acres can fluctuate year to year, pulses remain a key component in many farmers’ crop rotations,” says Pulse Canada’s Jeff English. Pulse Canada is the national association representing growers, traders, and processors of Canadian pulse crops, namely, peas, lentils, beans, and ‘IT ALWAYS SEEMS LIKE A BIT OF A CATCH-22.’ PULSE GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES: AN UPDATE By RICHARD KAMCHEN Tracy Miller photo
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