Sarah Hoffmann is a second-generation farmer near Three Hills, Alta. Since 2011, Sarah has farmed full-time with her parents, Garry and Karen Weigum in their pedigree seed operation, Alect Seeds. She married Curtis Hoffmann, a farmer from Oyen in 2015, and now splits her time between the two operations.
Sarah is a dedicated pulse grower and comes by it naturally, as her father first tried yellow peas in 1991 along with the cereal crops he was growing at the time. “My Dad is curious and likes trying new things. It started with about 14 acres and grew from there,” said Sarah, adding farmers are always looking for ways to diversify their crop rotations.
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They currently grow wheat, barley, flax, yellow peas, grass and recently added faba beans to the pedigree seed business. “The first year we tried faba beans was in 2013 and there was some buzz around that crop again,” said Sarah.
The conditions were right and the crop yielded well and was easy to combine. “But the exciting thing was that the field was on a major highway so we had a ton of people seeing the crop and just randomly coming in and asking what it was,” she remembered. “There was a ton of engagement with different farmers. I learned a lot and was able to share that knowledge.” Sarah attended some grower meetings and, as she is also a freelance writer, penned a few articles on the crop as well.
Diseases and marketing
But there can be challenges growing pulse crops. Agronomic issues head the list with the heavy clay soil in the area creating a risk for developing disease problems. While they haven’t yet had much issue with disease in their peas, they are managing the risk by lengthening their rotation to as much as one-in six years. Peas can have standability issues as well which slows harvest, so field selection and appropriate fungicide usage can offset those risks.
While the crops grown by Alect Seeds are primarily for seed and not the end consumer, they are well aware of the challenges pulse growers in Canada face. Marketing restrictions for faba beans have been a factor as Egypt is the major importer and see Australia as their seller of choice. Egypt has added more stringent disease testing requi rements for faba beans recently and growers here are concerned about the potential risks involved if selling there. Sarah is quick to mention the work of pulse grower organizations on their behalf to improve trade conditions and open markets to Canadian pulse crops.
As pedigree seed growers, Sarah and her family must be a few years ahead of demand. They talk to plant breeders, seed companies and network with various people in the industry to decide what growers will want a year or two down the road. That brings its own challenges.
More varieties key for success
“There aren’t huge acres of yellow peas, lentils or faba beans yet in Western Canada compared to other global crops like soybeans and wheat, so there aren’t a lot of players developing different varieties. As a seed grower we want to find new varieties for our customers and are always trying new things. Sometimes they pan out and sometimes they don’t,” said Sarah.
Sarah said she would really like to see more companies interested in developing more pulse varieties, preferably ones that deal with some of the disease issues. As well she sees a lot of lentils grown in Saskatchewan but not in Alberta, and would like to see varieties that could thrive in Alberta’s cooler evening conditions and encourage Alberta growers to give them a try.
Overall, Sarah feels proud of the pulse industry in Canada. “It has been a fairly collaborative place in Western Canada. There weren’t a lot of companies developing varieties at one point so, mostly with money from the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, the Crop Development Centre Pulse Breeding Program started which has produced some good varieties. “
Sarah is involved with the Alberta Pulse Growers Association and has organized grower meetings and agronomy updates to bring pulse growers together.
Her involvement is an example of the co-operation and collaboration she sees throughout the pulse sector at a local level as well as higher up in the industry, with growers wanting to share and learn from each other.
What is she most proud of? “It would be great if more people in Canada knew the variety of crops we grow here and the high level of infrastructure that needs to be maintained to get these products to market. I think it is fascinating that we are part of a long chain of events that take yellow peas from our farm to people’s plates in India,” said Sarah.
Her hard work and pride in this accomplishment shows.
Pulse facts
The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2016 the International Year of Pulses. Canada is the largest exporting nation of pulses in the world, shipping 77 percent of all pulses grown annually out of the country.
• More than 5.7 million acres are seeded to pulse crops each year in Canada
• Canadian pulse production peaked in 2010 at more than 5.7 million tonnes, with pulse production normally in the range of 4.5 to 5 million tonnes per year.
• The value of Canadian pulses exports alone exceeded $2.7 billion in 2011. Source: Pulse Canada
This is part one of a three-part sponsored content series profiling pulse growers in Canada. Click here for part 2.
