It hasn’t been a bad year for pulse production on the Prairies.
Crops progressed well for the most part, especially those harvested before the wet fall weather. Exceptions are areas in southwestern Saskatchewan that experienced drought and low yields, plus areas in the southeast that experienced excess rainfall and problems due to disease and flooding. Many areas have suffered from too much moisture at harvest time.
Monitoring grain during and after harvest is an important part of a producer’s day-to-day activities, said Ray McVicar, provincial special crops specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture. Aeration systems for cooling and drying seed are key to avoiding mould and other problems. The crop should be tested several times with a moisture meter after it is binned.
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Pulse producers should take care not to lose what they have harvested. The risk of spoiling becomes more important if the crop was harvested following wet weather. This risk is greatly reduced if foreign material is removed.
Grasshoppers were much less of a threat this year, but there were hot spots where infestations were high. Grasshopper body parts within the sample can cause downgrading through staining, odour and exceeding foreign material tolerance levels. Grasshopper parts should be removed as soon as possible, and in extreme cases, should be removed before binning.
Because the seeds are large, stored chickpeas and field peas need time for moisture to equalize throughout the seed. If harvested at high temperatures, there is a strong possibility the seeds will “sweat” in the bin. This occurs as moisture migrates within the bin.
For prolonged safe storage, pulse crops should be cooled to less than 15 C and dried to less than 14 percent moisture. Seed cooled to 10 C will store well for long periods.
Saskatchewan Pulse Growers’ Pulse Production Manual contains a table outlining the number of weeks for safe storage of peas at specified moisture content and temperature.
Peas stored at 14 percent moisture and 10 C can be safely stored for about 95 weeks. Peas stored at 18 percent moisture and 20 C have a safe storage limit of only seven weeks. Other pulse crops are similar.
Moisture factor
With the increased interest in red lentils this year, different moisture content levels must be taken into consideration. Red lentil splitting plants can achieve higher processing yields with lentils at 13 percent or lower moisture content. Growers should contact their buyers to determine if price premiums are available for delivering red lentils at 13 percent moisture or lower.
Pulse crops at 12 percent moisture or lower are much more prone to chipping and peeling during handling, especially when the temperature has dropped below -20 C.
A bin equipped with an aeration fan can provide cooling and drying. However, while cooling may be completed in one day, drying can take three to four weeks. To do this, the aeration fan must have adequate power to provide air flow through the grain.
The recommended requirement for aeration drying of a pulse crop is about one to two cubic feet of air per minute per bushel, about 2,000 to 4,000 cubic feet per minute for a 2,000 bu. bin.
A crop’s cleanliness must also be considered because foreign material can greatly reduce airflow and channel air movement around wet spots.
If supplemental heat drying is required, air temperatures should not exceed 45 C to preserve germination. The sample should not be dried more than four to five percentage points per pass through the drier. The product should be allowed to temper in an aeration bin between passes. Remember, the augers within a grain dryer can increase seed coat peeling and cracking.
