Episodios

  • A Mystery Disease in Chickpea with Dr. Michelle Hubbard

    A Mystery Disease in Chickpea with Dr. Michelle Hubbard

    · Growing Pulse Crops

    Dr. Michelle Hubbard leads a field, greenhouse, growth chamber and lab based research program at Agriculture and AgriFood Canada, a part of the Canadian federal government. Based in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, her work focuses on pulse pathology, including important diseases like ascochyta blight of chickpea, root rot of pea and lentil and anthracnose of lentil. Hubbard discusses a mystery illness that has been popping up in parts of Saskatchewan and other areas in recent years. She shares the symptoms of this disease and the extensive research that has been done to try to understand what exactly is going on so that we can start to manage for it in the future. 

    She provides insights not only into pulse pathology, but also into the approach scientists like herself take to try to find answers for farmers.

    “It is frustrating, but it's also interesting and I keep going by thinking we're learning other things. Even if we're not finding an answer to this problem, we're learning other useful things like about drought and Verticillium and nematodes.”  - Dr. Michelle Hubbard

    The exact pathogenesis of the mystery illness in chickpeas continues to elude researchers despite major efforts. The disease first emerged in 2019 and made its mark by creating severe crop loss similar to ascochyta blight. However, these chickpeas did not demonstrate obvious girdling and patterns of being transmitted airborne like typical ascochyta blight. Drought stress followed by rainfall was another factor explored for explaining the unique symptoms observed in the field but this too was disproved in trials. Herbicide application without moisture was another factor explored and it too could not be replicated successfully. The investigation continues with Dr. Hubbard offering this advice to producers. 

    “Keep an eye out for it, but (don't) panic about it. If they want to find out more information or pictures, there's a lot of pictures on the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers website, as well as some old reports dating back to the beginning of the issue that explains it really well and shows pictures and examples. Or if somebody wants to contact me, I'm happy to send pictures or to help you find a link where you can find more pictures.” - Dr. Michelle Hubbard

    This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

    Meet Dr. Michelle Hubbard a plant pathologist who leads a field, greenhouse, growth chamber and lab based research program at Agriculture and AgriFood CanadaUnderstand the emergence and research related to identifying this mystery chickpea illnessLearn more about Dr. Hubbard’s work at AgriFood Canada by visiting her webpage Check out the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers webpage as well to learn more about this emerging concern

    Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast. 

  • Field Pea Genetics with Tom Warkentin, Ph.D.

    Field Pea Genetics with Tom Warkentin, Ph.D.

    · Growing Pulse Crops

    Dr. Tom Warkentin is a professor at the University of Saskatchewan where he is part of a team at the Crop Development Center. He has been a pulse crop breeder for about 30 years, mostly focused on field peas. Warkentin discusses the progress of his pulse crop breeding program over the decades, including varieties that have had a big impact on the industry. He also shares how he balances the need to improve genetics on multiple fronts all at once, like yield, quality, lodging, disease resistance, protein and a number of other factors. He’ll also cover what’s in the pipeline currently for new varieties and what questions and areas of research are still left unanswered. 

    “Definitely yield is first and we keep pushing to improve yield. I think if we go through the records we’ve probably boosted yield 1 to 2% per year if you take the long-term average over a couple of decades. Second trait that farmers definitely like is lodging resistance, so the ability to stay upright. That has remained as probably the second most important trait in pea varieties over the last 30 years.”  - Dr. Tom Warkentin

    Other priorities they focus on include protein quality and quantity, root rot resistance and ascochyta resistance. Dr. Warkentin discusses where these priorities come from including producer requests, processor preferences and consumer demands. Employing different techniques to highlight different characteristics is a lengthy difficult process in plant genetics that Dr. Warkentin’s team have been fine-tuning for years.

    “So a combination of conventional breeding and marker assisted breeding and screening material with the actual pathogens, either indoors or outdoors.  All of those approaches we're using.” - Dr. Tom Warkentin

    This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

    Meet Dr. Tom Warkentin, a professor at the University of Saskatchewan where he is part of a team at the Crop Development Center.Discover the priorities of genetic traits that his breeding program is addressing in peas and the impact this development is having on the pulse crop industryExplore the process the plant breeding team is employing to improve pulse crop geneticsLearn more about Dr. Warkentin’s work at the University of Saskatchewan by visiting his research webpage 

    Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast. 

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  • DNA Testing For Herbicide Resistance With Zack Bateson of the National Ag Genotyping Center

    DNA Testing For Herbicide Resistance With Zack Bateson of the National Ag Genotyping Center

    · Growing Pulse Crops

    Zack Bateson is the Research Manager at the National Ag Genotyping Center based in Fargo, North Dakota. You heard a little bit about the work the National Genotyping Center is doing in episode five with Dr. Brian Jenks.  In this episode we dive deeper into the services they offer to provide DNA testing for farmers and agronomists. Bateson got his start in DNA-based testing working in wildlife biology with prairie chickens and lizards, but says all of the skills can be applied to any organisms including variety detection, herbicide resistance, and soil pathogens, which is where he focuses today. 

    “Growers can send us kochia and we can genotype them for the resistance to group 14. Then they're able to have a discussion with either their agronomists or other consultants to see whether it can be another actionable spraying opportunity or if there's something else that they can do about these resistant weeds.” - Zach Bateson

    The National Ag Genotyping Center is a private nonprofit diagnostic lab that provides genetic testing to identify pathogens, pests and genetic traits such as resistance to herbicides. This valuable information can help growers determine next steps in treatment of fields without having to rely solely on potentially costly trial and error practices. Alongside these established practices they are also developing identification testing for different causes of root rot.

    “The work involved is simpler for a person to do, especially with robotics, we can not only do tens of samples per day, but we can extract from hundreds of samples per day. We can test for multiple genetic markers throughout the day, so we're talking hundreds and almost thousands of data points that can be processed and reported out.” - Zach Bateson

    This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

    Meet Zack Bateson, the Research Manager at the National Ag Genotyping Center based in Fargo, North DakotaExplore the work done at the National Ag Genotyping Center and the value they provide growers in North Dakota. Discover the support and research being developed at the National Ag Genotyping Center and the future projects they expect to participate in

    Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast. 

  • The Fight Against Resistant Weeds With Dr. Brian Jenks

    The Fight Against Resistant Weeds With Dr. Brian Jenks

    · Growing Pulse Crops

    Dr. Brian Jenks is a weed scientist at North Dakota State University based in Minot. He 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 discusses the resistance problem and some of the work underway to help farmers manage these weeds that are getting tougher every year to control. He also shares an exciting new offering from the Ag Genotyping Center to identify resistance.

    “I've been polling farmers this winter and the most common answer I get is about 80%. Farmers think about 80% of their kochia is roundup resistant. So it's a majority of the kochia and we know that there's group 14 resistance out there to Aim and Sharpen. So if we want to control kochia in a burn down, we need to know  if Aim and Sharpen are going to work for us.” - Dr. Brian Jenks

    Spray droplet size, travel speed when spraying and the height of the kochia when treated are all factors that greatly affect the success of herbicide use. True resistance however will be able to survive each of these adjustments. Developing new mechanisms of action and products to circumvent the resistance is a lengthy difficult process with no clear immediate solution in site. With resistance observed in many commonly used herbicides, gramoxone seems to be the only one that remains consistently effective. Unfortunately resistance is likely to emerge here too without other measures being taken.

    “The worst thing we can do is probably a two year rotation where we're using the same herbicides and the same crops over and over.  I'm optimistic if we can diversify our crops to get a minimum of 3, 4, 5 crops in the rotation,  and then use 5, 6, 7 different modes of action with our herbicides.” - Dr. Brian Jenks

    This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

    Meet Dr. Brian Jenks, a weed scientist at North Dakota State UniversityExplore the growing problem of herbicide resistant kochia and the impact this problem will have on pulse crop productionUnderstand the significance of different spray techniques and following up on spray treatments with early season monitoring

    Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast. 

  • Nitrogen Fixation and Field Pea Production in South Dakota with Dr. Christopher Graham

    Nitrogen Fixation and Field Pea Production in South Dakota with Dr. Christopher Graham

    · Growing Pulse Crops

    Dr. Chris Graham is an associate professor at South Dakota State University. He’s also the manager of the West River Research Farm near Sturgis, South Dakota. At that facility they focus a lot on regenerative agriculture, including doing a lot of work with peas and other pulses to extend crop rotations in that semi-arid region in the western part of the state. Graham shares about pulse production in South Dakota, focusing mostly on field peas. He also shares some of the complexities of nitrogen fixation, including what it might look like to have farm-specific microbial inoculant mixes in the future. 

    “When you look at the growth of wheat, generally the yield is set first and then the protein is made later in its life cycle. And so we often see peas, obviously they're harvested and they start to decay, and that slow decay releases nitrogen  later in the wheat growing season. And so we often see a protein bump with wheat following peas.” - Dr. Chris Graham

    While there isn’t a lot of acreage in pulses in South Dakota yet, Graham calls field peas the “nickel slots” of the pulses. In other words, a great place to start incorporating them into a rotation with a low barrier to entry. He highlights that your soil nitrogen content will likely not increase but your input needs may decrease when pulses are used.

    “It's still nitrogen that you didn't have to apply and it's also nitrogen that the plant did not necessarily take up from the soil. And so it's conserving some of that nitrogen that's being made available just on that baseline level.  ” - Dr. Chris Graham

    This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

    Meet Dr. Chris Graham, an associate professor at South Dakota State University and the manager of the West River Research Farm near Sturgis, South DakotaExplore the potential use of pulse crops in rotations in South DakotaDiscover the niche pulses can fill in rotation as a broadleaf crop capable of nitrogen fixation

    Visit Dr. Graham’s webpage here.


    Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

  • Weed Seed Destruction Technology with Dr. Breanne Tidemann

    Weed Seed Destruction Technology with Dr. Breanne Tidemann

    · Growing Pulse Crops

    Dr. Breanne Tidemann is a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada based in Lacombe, Alberta. As a weed scientist, her job is to explore new and novel ways to manage weeds. Her focus is to research applied management strategies, weed biology and ecology, and screening for herbicide resistance. In this episode, Tidemann discusses the work she has been leading in Canada on the effectiveness of weed seed destruction technology including the use of mills and shares that this approach can be a very helpful tool in the toolbox especially in pulses.

    “By and large, on the vast majority of weed species that have been tested in Canada and the United States, we're seeing greater than 95% control of what goes into those mills
There's the odd one here or there that's a little bit lower, but when I say it's a little bit lower, we're typically still talking greater than 80% control.” - Dr. Breanne Tidemann

    Tideman shares the concern that at the end of the season the remaining weeds have managed to survive everything the farmer has put them through. They are therefore the fittest weeds that are the most difficult to get rid of. She proposes that rather than spreading those weed seeds all over the field with a combine we need to focus on destroying them. This process may not solve any weed problems for the crop you're harvesting, but it does start the weed management for the next year early and can have real impacts on future production. 

    “So there's six main methods of harvest weed seed control. Some of them are things we would consider using in North America, like the weed seed destruction technology.
it's basically trying to turn the combine from a weed seed spreader into a weed seed predator” - Dr. Breanne Tidemann

    ï»żThis Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

    Meet Dr. Breanne Tidemann a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada based in Lacombe, AlbertaExplore the value and purpose of research regarding harvest weed seed control especially as it relates to crops with limited herbicide options such as pulse cropsDiscover current methods and equipment that are effective for harvest weed seed control and are available in North America

    Connect with Dr. Tidemann on Twitter @breannetidemann or visit her website here.



    Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast. 



  • Bringing Pulse Crop Growers Together With Sam Arnson and Shannon Berndt of the Northern Pulse Growers Association

    Bringing Pulse Crop Growers Together With Sam Arnson and Shannon Berndt of the Northern Pulse Growers Association

    · Growing Pulse Crops

    Farmer and Northern Pulse Growers Association president Sam Arnson and executive director Shannon Berndt join us to talk about their work at NPGA, the importance of bringing the industry together to fund research, marketing and education efforts, and how other pulse growers can get involved. They share what NPGA has accomplished and what the future holds for northern pulse growers in the region.

    “This is an exciting time to be part of this industry because we are still a fairly small industry, but we're growing. We're seeing a lot of additional states coming on board with acreage and production that face some of the same challenges that North Dakota and Montana producers face. And so as a collective group of growers, I think it's important that y'all have a voice.” - Shannon Berndt

    The Northern Pulse Growers Association is a nonprofit association representing dry pea, lentil, chickpea, lupin and fava bean growers from Montana and North Dakota. Shannon Berndt has been serving as the assocation's executive director since 2007. When not acting as president for NPGA Sam is found farming northwest of Williston, North Dakota.

    “People are overall excited next year for pulses to be put into their rotation if their rotation allows it. And I mean by that is their crop rotation and or chemical herbicide usage if it's opened for pulses. I think a lot of acres are gonna go in next year.” - Sam Arnson

    This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

    Meet farmer and Northern Pulse Growers Association president Sam Arnson and executive director Shannon BerndtExplore the progress in development and collaboration between producers the organization has accomplished for pulse growers in the northern regionDiscover what future opportunities the NPGA feels pulse growers have available to them as the industry grows and expands

    Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast. 

  • Sweet Lupins with Dr. Mike Ostlie

    Sweet Lupins with Dr. Mike Ostlie

    · Growing Pulse Crops

    In this episode we’re looking at a new pulse crop: sweet white lupins. Dr. Mike Ostlie is the director of the Carrington Research Extension Center at North Dakota State University. In the early 2000s a private company that was developing lupin varieties had gone out of business and the germplasm was given to NDSU to work on varieties. Now they’re close to releasing new varieties and Ostlie joins us to share why this is exciting for growers and for the pulse crops industry in general. 

    “It's actually really an exciting time to be in the lupin world right now because there's a lot of interest in it I think all around in people looking for some new food ingredients, for instance, on the buyer side. As well as some farmers that are interested in getting something a little bit different in their crop rotation.” - Dr. Mike Ostlie

    While these varieties of sweet white lupins will be new to many US growers, there is also an initiative in Canada to develop and release blue lupins which have a lot of the same qualities. These qualities include being a strong nitrogen fixer, a phosphorous scavenger, and a high protein legume. Ostlie noted that there is some existing production of sweet lupin in Australia that mainly goes to the pet food and livestock feed industries there. 

    “The lupins have pretty wide adaptability in the northern plains in the fact that they produce reasonable yield under those very large drought conditions. When they're provided water, the yield potential is quite high
.We've seen yields get up to 60 to 70 bushels an acre with lupins, which again, is very competitive with a lot of crops in the area.” - Dr. Mike Ostlie

    This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

    Dr. Mike Ostlie shares the development and potential of white lupins where varieties are being developed at the Carrington Research Extension Center at NDSUDiscover the yield potential and resilience of the Lupin plant that is also known for its ability to scavenge phosphorus and fix nitrogenLearn the unique characteristics and input needs for this up and coming pulse crop

    Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast. 

  • The Diverse Opportunities in Pulse Crops with Steve Tucker and Dr. Bob Harveson

    The Diverse Opportunities in Pulse Crops with Steve Tucker and Dr. Bob Harveson

    · Growing Pulse Crops

    Take our audience survey and let us know your feedback about the Growing Pulse Crop Podcast!

    Whether you’re from Nebraska or elsewhere, this is a great episode about what’s possible for the future of pulse crops. We talk about peas and chickpeas, but we also get into other niche opportunities like mung beans, cowpeas and more. You’ll get a sense of the emerging pulse industry in Nebraska, but also what it takes for the development of pulse crops everywhere. We discuss genetics, agronomy, disease management and marketing strategy. We start with Steve Tucker. Steve farms near Venango, Nebraska in the southwest part of the state. He has built his operation on the principle of diversity and grows up to 14 different crops.

    “We can grow mung beans, I mean, there's different...aspects of these different things that we can do. What does the market need? And so I just had a conversation with a company that's looking for lupins. I don't know if you've ever heard of lupins before and so there are more various different kinds of pulse crops that who knows what else is out there and what people are looking for to utilize in food products.” - Steve Tucker

    When plant pathologist Dr. Bob Harveson came to the University of Nebraska in 1999, chickpeas were really on the rise in the state. Sometime in the early 2000’s ascochyta really started to affect a lot of fields and there were no fungicides labeled for the disease for treatment. Since then he said fungicide options have improved over time as have genetics. Unfortunately, many of those same growers who experienced the devastating losses from ascochyta are very hesitant to plant chickpeas or even other pulse crops again. Despite these frustrations, Bob remains optimistic for the future of chickpeas and other pulses in the state. 

    “I have a strong diagnostic background. So whenever something like this pops up, I try to determine what the problem is, how well it's distributed, you know, those sorts of things. Before you can start developing control measures, you gotta know what you've got in order to really make the right choice for that.” - Dr. Bob Harveson

    This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

    Meet Steve Tucker who farms near Venango, Nebraska and explore the diverse crop varieties he plants on his operation and his motivation behind their selectionAlso meet plant pathologist Dr. Bob Harveson from the University of Nebraska and explore his involvement in pulse crop production and what he sees as the future of the industryFor more information on ascochyta specifically, you can refer back to some of the previous episodes we’ve done on the topic.Coordinated Research Efforts to Fight Pulse Pathogens with Dr. Jenny Davidson in season twoCanadian Pulses and Foliar Disease Management in season twoDisease Management in Pulses with Dr. Michael Wunsch in season one

    Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the

  • Harvest Considerations with Montana Farmer Terry Angvick

    Harvest Considerations with Montana Farmer Terry Angvick

    · Growing Pulse Crops

    Take our audience survey and let us know your feedback about the Growing Pulse Crop Podcast!

    Terry Angvick farms in Sheridan County, Montana which is in the extreme Northeastern corner of the state. He was born, raised there and came back after earning a plant and soil science degree from Montana State University. In his first career, he spent 31 years as the Sheridan County Extension Agent, a position he retired from in 2010. Today he farms mostly durum and dry peas alongside his two older brothers and his son. Terry shares about the important role pulse crops play in rotations in his arid part of the country, some of his management practices that he’s adopted over the past 20 years of growing pulses, and some harvest and post-harvest considerations. 

    “I think the more residue out there, it prevents erosion, but it also creates a little microclimate, a little environment, for them to grow up into. I prefer a furrow drill
because I think it also allows that little microclimate when you grow up on the stubble. These varieties have tendrils that tie them together, and so that helps to hold them upright as well. In my mind, the more stubble the better.” - Terry Angvick

    As an extension agent Terry found himself “searching for something that would justify the economics of farming.” This led him to encourage the planting of previously fallow fields and pursuing different types of crop rotations such as pulse crops.

    “When you produce a durum crop following a pulse crop, you almost always have increased yield and quality as opposed to continuous wheat. For example, better protein, better color. Durum has HVAC, which is a hard vitreous amber color, which is a nice yellow color. It's almost always better. So from those standpoints, I guess the pulse crops have really fitted very well and the markets have followed it as well.” - Terry Angvick

    This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

    Meet Terry Angvick from Sheridan County, Montana who farms durum and dry peas alongside his two older brothers and son.Explore the new practices Terry has started to compliment the pulse crops he has added to his rotation 

    Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

  • Winter Peas with Dr. Steve Van Vleet

    Winter Peas with Dr. Steve Van Vleet

    · Growing Pulse Crops

    Take our audience survey and let us know your feedback about the Growing Pulse Crop Podcast!

    Dr. Steve Van Vleet spent about 18 years as a regional extension specialist for Washington State University, and today is a research agronomist with The McGregor Company. For most of his career, pulses have been an important part of his work, and he joins us to talk about his excitement for the potential of winter peas. We’re not talking about Austrian Winter Peas, which are feed grade peas that are smaller in size and darker in color. We’re talking about food grade winter peas, which have been available for several years in certain growing areas. Steve says the differences are larger size of at least 17 grams, a clear seed coat, and a green or yellow cotyledon. 

    “Multiple years, my average yield of my winter peas was 6,000 pounds. That's between all the varieties. Spring pea will range from 2,500 pounds up to 4,500 pounds. But I can get 7,000 or 7,500 pounds off some of the different winter pea varieties. That's the part that makes me super excited..” - Dr. Steve Van Vleet

    Steve talks about why he believes this crop is a great option for a lot more growers than are using them currently and some considerations for growing winter peas including seeding depths and timing and pest and disease management. The limiting factor he sees playing a big role in this variety’s success is the access producers have to markets.

    “Not are you only helping the soil, helping another crop that you're producing, which makes it better, makes it healthier. But what are you doing when it comes to human health?... If we could market this and people would become educated and say, this is one of the most healthy crops that we can produce and improves human health, soil health, crop health, other crop health. Not just as a rotational crop, but this could be a major crop. That's where I see opportunity.” - Dr. Steve Van Vleet

    This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

    Meet Dr. Steve Van Vleet a former regional extension specialist for Washington State University and current research agronomist with The McGregor Company. Explore the benefits of the winter pea variety and the potential it offers producersRead more about  “Pea Weevil Management in Winter Peas” in this Washington State University publication

    Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

  • Pulse Flours and Ingredients with Eric Bartsch of AGT Foods

    Pulse Flours and Ingredients with Eric Bartsch of AGT Foods

    · Growing Pulse Crops

    Eric Bartsch is the division head for global food ingredients at AGT Foods based in Bismarck, North Dakota. He’s been with the company for 16 years and through that time they have grown from just a couple factories to now over 45 facilities and $2B in sales. Processing peas, lentils, chickpeas, fava beans and dry edible beans has been their primary focus since they were founded in 2002. While they have ventured into some grain-based products since that time, they still remain focused and bullish on the future of pulse crops.

    “There's a lot of things that we've had to establish. Protein checking in peas was non-existent 20 years ago. And now it's where we're checking protein on every load to be able to supply some of the high end markets that we are today. You know a lot of major investments in protein manufacturing plants, in processing, in food manufacturing plants that are incorporating pulses is really at an all time high and continues to grow.” - Eric Bartsch

    Eric discusses how much has changed in pulses to make them more attractive to a wider variety of consumers who want tasty and nutritious foods. This has had big impacts on what buyers are looking for from these pulse crops in terms of flavor and functionality. He talks about how that information gets passed from the consumer to the producer and back, and the role AGT Foods plays in facilitating that connection. He also talks about some of the opportunities ahead for the industry, and why he is more optimistic than ever about the market potential for these crops. 

    “That's really one of the initiatives we took when we built our Minot plant, is how do we transform pulses into ingredients that can be incorporated into everyday food. So now you look at the market and there's all kinds of gluten-free pasta made from lentils, chickpeas, and peas. They’ve become mainstream where it's become a very large market
So there's many ways to where we've taken pulses, transformed them into an ingredient and incorporated them into everyday foods that consumers are familiar with” - Eric Bartsch

    This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

    Meet Eric Bartsch, the division head for global food ingredients at AGT Foods based in Bismarck, North DakotaExplore the future of the pulse crop industry from the perspective of a pulse crop processor

    Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

  • Soil Health with Abbey Wick, Ph.D.

    Soil Health with Abbey Wick, Ph.D.

    · Growing Pulse Crops

    At the time of this interview Dr. Abbey Wick was the associate professor and extension soil health specialist at North Dakota State University. She has since gone on to a new role after nearly 12 years at NDSU. She is now the Global Soil Health Education Program Lead at Syngenta. We talk about what is motivating more farmers to want to try new practices on their farms to improve their soil health, some of the barriers to adopting these practices, and the support and resources available for anyone looking to learn more. We also discuss a new approach that food companies are getting involved with to spread the word about soil health through certified crop advisors, which is called the Trusted Advisor Partnership.

    “I do think that people need to be aware of how they're going to keep that residue on the surface and probably it's with the crops they are growing in between those pulse crops and rotation. They could build up some of the residue. But yeah, it's exciting. I think there's a ton of potential with pulse crops, and fortunately we can grow them here in the northern plains. So I think we're in a great position here to do some really cool things with soil health and pulse.” - Dr. Abbey Wick

    Wick has seen both soil erosion and salinity issues be big motivators for producers to turn to new soil health practices. Using a perennial and keeping residue on the surface has become much more common place for producers in the North Dakota area to combat these issues. She goes on to share that a strong community of support and collaboration has developed around these soil health practices including the Trusted Advisor Partnership. 

    “There's a community around this that I think growers want to be part of. And to have that support not only from the university or from crop advisors who are interested in this or from conservation districts or NRCS groups. But they want to be part of that community because they want to be creative and they want to be thinking through the problems and solving problems on their farm and now they have people to do that with. And so I think that's been a huge motivator for soil health.” - Dr Abbey Wick

    This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

    Join Dr. Abbey Wick, former associate professor and extension soil health specialist at North Dakota State University and current Global Soil Health Education Program Lead at SyngentaExplore the evolution of soil health practices in North Dakota and the role pulse crops can playResources for Soil Health Learning and Practices:NDSU Soil Health WebsiteNRCS WebsiteSoil Conservation DistrictsMidwest Cover Crops Council WebsiteNorth Central Sustainable Agriculture Research and EducationSoil Sense Podcast

    Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

  • Weed Management in Chickpeas with Dr. Drew Lyon

    Weed Management in Chickpeas with Dr. Drew Lyon

    · Growing Pulse Crops

    Dr. Drew Lyon is a Professor and the Endowed Chair of Small Grains Extension and Research for Weed Science at Washington State University in Pullman. Prior to moving to Washington in 2012, he spent 22 years as a Dryland Cropping Systems Specialist at the University of Nebraska at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center in Scottsbluff. His endowment is from the WA Grain Commission, so he spends a lot of his time with wheat growers, but most of them also include pulses in their rotations. Our discussion mostly focuses on integrated weed management of chickpeas, from cultural practices to herbicides to biologicals. 

    “We do have some effective herbicides out there. In this part of the world nature doesn't always provide us with the moisture at the right time to get those products activated and going, that increases our need to use things other than herbicides for weed control. Because we've had 30 years of really effective herbicides that's the first place a lot of growers think. But I think we're gonna have to start thinking more about other approaches, things we used to do 40 and 50 years ago before herbicides were so effective.” - Dr. Drew Lyon

    Lyon has seen herbicide tools come and go, both in their effectiveness and their availability. Because of this, he is a big advocate for an integrated weed management program, which he says all starts with trying to grow a competitive crop. He shares that there are also things that can be done to try to manage the overall seed bank of the weeds on fields. Cover crops, he says, can also be helpful with weed suppression if you have the moisture. When all is said and done, Lyon’s advice on weed management comes down to three basic principles: don’t get weeds started, do everything you can to grow a competitive crop, and always be changing things up.

    “Prevent weed problems from starting. If you don't have certain weeds on your farm, make sure you don't get them
 Do everything you can to grow a competitive crop
And then the other thing is to change things up. Anytime you do the same thing over and over again, you tend to select for those weeds that do well in that system
Human nature is that we like to stick with things until we break them, but that's the recipe for getting weed problems” - Dr Drew Lyon

    This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

    Join Dr. Drew Lyon is a Professor and the Endowed Chair of Small Grains Extension and Research for Weed Science at Washington State University in PullmanDiscussion of past, current and future integrated weed management for pulse crop producersRe-visit Dr. Drew Lyon’s discussion on harvest aids from season one in episode 12

    Growing Pulse Crops is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

  • Grasshopper Management with Agronomist Jeannie Rude

    Grasshopper Management with Agronomist Jeannie Rude

    · Growing Pulse Crops

    Jeannie Rude is an agronomist at PRO Co-op in Northeast Montana. She manages part of the co-op’s business to help growers make decisions, solve agronomic problems, and provide inputs. Overall, Rude works with 13 different crops on an annual basis. She is acutely aware of how much her job and the success of her cooperative hinges on the viability of the farmer customers that they serve. 

    “I love what I do because of the complexity. It definitely makes it more challenging. It makes it hard to bring new people into the business because they have to learn so much and it's not something that's in a textbook
 I would not do this if it was routine and if it was something that was easy to copy.” - Jeannie Rude

    In 2021 Rude discovered that there was limited research on grasshoppers due to the cyclical nature of their impact. She had to make some educated guesses for her clients in order to manage the grasshopper population explosion. Rude discusses grasshopper population thresholds, life cycles, management options and what environmental factors will affect their survival most. 

    “There's a hundred species of grasshoppers between you in South Idaho and me and Northeast Montana. There are five that are pests and two that are giving us trouble right now in this area, so there's 98 that don't matter. So there's a ton of grasshoppers in the environment that are harmless
.There's a threshold for action and all of those other grasshoppers, they're not part of your action threshold you're looking for.” - Jeannie Rude

    This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

    Meet Jeannie Rude, an agronomist at PRO Co-op in Northeast MontanaDiscover the path Rude has taken to becoming the resident expert on grasshoppers for her areaExplore what options are available to producers to manage grasshoppers and what weather conditions affect their populations most

    Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

  • Nodulation and Nitrogen Fixation with Barney Geddes, Ph.D.

    Nodulation and Nitrogen Fixation with Barney Geddes, Ph.D.

    · Growing Pulse Crops

    Dr. Barney Geddes is an assistant professor at North Dakota State University in the Department of Microbiological Sciences. His work focuses on microbes with the goal of boosting crop yields for farmers. More specifically he studies rhizobia which form symbiotic relationships with legume crops like pulses. In this episode, Geddes explains how nodulation works and what that means for farm decisions like inoculants. He grew up on a farm in Manitoba, and after studying microbiology as an undergrad, he decided to apply this knowledge to his lifelong passion for sustainable agriculture. His perspective is deep into the science but also rooted in the reality of growing up on a commercial farm. 

    “Nodulation or the ultimate formation of a root nodule on the root of these pulses is really the result of quite an elegant communication and signal exchange between the plant and the microbe
It's really a communication between the two that ultimately leads the plant to understand it has the right microbe there to allow it to kind of gain entry and then it builds this house for it called the root nodule.” - Dr. Barney Geddes

    According to Geddes, inoculation is “kind of a bet hedging process” in that producers are just making sure all the building blocks are made available for nodulation to occur. The plant will continue to send out signals to create nodules and will turn off those signals once they have met their needs. In this way, if there is excessive nitrogen in the soil, the plant will not be prompted to form the symbiotic relationship and nodulate. Plant stress and soil pH will also impact the symbiotic relationship and the success of nodulation.

    “We're trying to build a translatable knowledge base that can lead to improvements in the industry. So that's been a big focus for us, is competition. These are living organisms that have to come into our environment and thrive there somehow
But thinking about that competition and, and what allows a microbe to thrive in a new environment is something we're starting to do a lot.” - Dr. Barney Geddes

    This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

    Meet Dr. Barney Geddes an assistant professor at North Dakota State University in the Department of Microbiological SciencesExplore the intricacies of nodulation and the components that make it successful in the fieldDiscover the best use scenarios for inoculants to encourage nodulation

    Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

  • Lentil Agronomics with Perry Miller, Ph.D.

    Lentil Agronomics with Perry Miller, Ph.D.

    · Growing Pulse Crops

    Dr. Perry Miller is a cropping systems scientist in the Land Resources and Environmental Sciences Dept at Montana State University. A large portion of the work Dr. Miller does includes working with pulse crops and how they can make other crops, namely wheat, grow better. Part one of this episode was published as episode two in this season and focused on crop diversification and fertility. In this episode, we focus on lentil agronomics. As more and more farmers started to grow lentils in their rotation instead of summer fallow, Perry says the early lessons about growing the crops included being mindful of herbicide carryover and applying an inoculant.

    So you need to know what your soil residual herbicide history is because there are some persistent herbicides, and lentil tends to be a little bit the canary in the coal mine when it comes to herbicide residues. If you've got something in the soil, lentils will usually respond to it
The other easiest mistake to make is to not apply a rhizobial inoculant in a way that actually gets that bacteria in a living fashion onto the seed or into the soil in a way that can interact with lentils to help with fixed nitrogen.” - Dr. Perry Miller

    Perry says that most producers are familiar enough with pulse crops to avoid those common pitfalls and that most are now focusing on optimizing their operation. One interesting area that he has been exploring is rolling timing and its impact on yield. Perry mentioned that even in their trials where there was flat ground and very little rocks, rolling still seemed to be beneficial to yield. Perry has also looked at five different seeding rates and found out the recommended seeding rate, in a lot of cases, was probably not enough. 

    “Long story short, 1.5 x seeding rate was the economic optimum by the time you considered additional seed cost and what the yield response was. So it suggests that we're probably leaving some yield potential on the table by going at our old, traditional recommended seeding rates.” - Dr. Perry Miller

    This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

    Follow up with Dr. Perry Miller, a cropping systems scientist in the Land Resources and Environmental Sciences Dept at Montana State University. Explore the many farming practices Perry has studied and explored to optimize the productivity of pulse crops

    Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

  • Managing Root Rots in Peas and Lentils with Michael Wunsch, Ph.D.

    Managing Root Rots in Peas and Lentils with Michael Wunsch, Ph.D.

    · Growing Pulse Crops

    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 and focused on disease management problems on a wide breadth of crops grown in North Dakota. Michael’s focus is on applied research that can directly address farmer needs. In this episode we focus specifically on root rots in peas and lentils and how the soil temperature can affect successful yields.

    “Basically what happens is, is if your soil temperatures are below 50 degrees Fahrenheit in that seven day period after planting the root rot severity is way lower, way lower. You're cutting your fusarium and aphanomyces root rot in half at those early mid vegetative growth. So they can get a lot bigger before the root rot gets bad.” - Dr. Michael Wunsch

    Michael emphasizes that there are no silver bullets with these root rots and that both warm and cool season root rots cause problems for producers and need to be accounted for. Seed treatments with proper efficacy for pythium and rhizoctonia will start crops off on the right foot. Fusarium and aphanomyces become a bigger issue in warmer saturated soils later in the summer. These two pathogens tend to impregnate fields one year and won’t cause a problem until the next year's plantings. Unfortunately seed treatments will no longer be present when temperatures warm up. Planting early in cooler soils will allow for the plants to be larger and more hardy prior to when their warm fungal adversaries will start causing a problem. The third management strategy that is an important piece for managing these root rots is crop rotation. 

    “It's just a no-brainer. You use a seed treatment with peas when you're planting in soils below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and if you want to minimize your root rot, you need to plant in soils that are cool
The seed treatment basically gives you another four to five bushels. And so you're looking at a four to eight bushel gain by optimizing your planting day relative to soil temperature
.Suddenly you're at eight to 13 bushels with those two tools.” - Dr. Michael Wunsch

    This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

    Meet Dr. Michael Wunsch is a Plant Pathologist at the Carrington Research Extension Center at North Dakota State University.Explore different strategies that when integrated together can help producers manage common causes for devastating root rotDiscover the ongoing research into root rot and the further techniques being assessed

    Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

  • Aphids and Aphid-Transmitted Viruses

    Aphids and Aphid-Transmitted Viruses

    · Growing Pulse Crops

    Aphids are known for the destruction they can cause due to feeding damage. But they can also be responsible for transmitting harmful viruses into the crops. In this episode we hear from Dr. Lyndon Porter is a plant pathologist at USDA-ARS based in Prosser, Washington, Dr. Sean Prager is an associate professor of entomology at the University of Saskatchewan and Dr. Sanford Eigenbrode is a professor of entomology at the University of Idaho. There is a tremendous amount of collective knowledge in this group covering aphid-related topics including the development of genetic tolerance to the insect and resistance to the viruses.  We also discuss aphid sampling and hosts, chemical options for management and other integrated pest management strategies.

    “We estimated a direct injury threshold, a level of aphid infestation that would justify a spray. And we had a second calculator that attempted to help growers who are concerned about the aphid as a vector of the virus, which is a different thing. In that case, we would say the nominal threshold is one aphid because it only takes an aphid that's prolific to feed for an hour and you have a sick plant.” - Dr. Sanford Eigenbrode

    Lyndon says that giving growers real time data on aphid presence and aphid levels has been a critical step to helping with management of this pest and associated diseases. All three of our guests agree the long term goal is a combination of integrated pest management built upon a foundation of genetic tolerance to the pest and resistance to the diseases. This represents a really interesting area of research that combines entomology, pathology, plant breeding and several other areas of study. 

    “If we can just get the associations between genetic elements and resistance, we can skip knowing exactly what those genes are coding for as long as we can track them into the breeding lines.” - Dr. Sanford Eigenbrode 

    This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

    Meet Dr. Lyndon Porter, a plant pathologist at USDA-ARS based in Washington, Dr. Sean Prager, an associate professor of entomology at the University of Saskatchewan, and Dr. Sanford Eigenbrode, a professor of entomology at the University of IdahoExplore the impact of aphids and the measures being taken to not only reduce the damage aphids cause by feeding but also reduce the impact of the viruses the aphids vectorDiscover the factors contributing to aphid spread and the monitoring proving to be significant in managing their impactLearn about the process towards developing genetic resistance to this pest and the tools being used to produce results quicker

    Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the

  • Developing New Varieties of Pulses with Nonoy Bandillo, Ph.D.

    Developing New Varieties of Pulses with Nonoy Bandillo, Ph.D.

    · Growing Pulse Crops

    Dr. Nonoy Bandillo is an assistant professor and pulse crops breeder who directs the pulse crops breeding program at North Dakota State University. He says their ultimate goal at the program is to develop and release varieties that maximize economic return to producers and to provide high quality crops to the pulse crops industry. In this episode we discuss key challenges in pulse crops that are being addressed through genetics, some of the varieties that his program has released in the past, and some exciting new lines that are in the pipeline. 

    “So the zero tannin lentil that we have in the pipeline, it doesn't have tannin or there's minimal tannin and it does not have any brownish color, which I would say, in my opinion, is not really a good characteristic of the seed of lentil.” - Dr. Nonoy Bandillo

    Over the years of the NDSU breeding program, there have been several milestones, but perhaps most importantly, the release of four new cultivars. As these cultivars get released, it does take a while for them to be available commercially. ND Crown for example, was released in 2020, but there should finally be enough seed this year to be available for farmers.The program also has an additional eight lines in the pre-release phase of the pipeline. Disease resistance, yield, protein content and flavor remain high priorities for pulse crop breeding programs going forward. Nonoy and other plant breeders work extremely closely with plant pathologists to understand the mechanisms for disease resistance and to try to understand how to develop varieties accordingly.

    “Our goal is to always collaborate with multiple breeders, not just within the US, but all around the world to get new sources of germ plasm or materials that we can use for the program
 I feel like collaboration always starts with figuring out the important biological question that should be highly relevant to producers.” -Dr. Nonoy Bandillo

    This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

    Meet Dr. Nonoy Bandillo an assistant professor and pulse crops breeder who directs the pulse crops breeding program at North Dakota State UniversityExplore the strategy, purpose and effect of the ongoing research towards new pulse crop cultivarsDiscover the vast collaborative efforts throughout the industry to produce better cultivars for both the market and producers

    Growing Pulse Crops Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

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