Checking Canada’s pulse for lentils
Saskatchewan farming family finds many positives to legume
Consumers hungry for a homegrown food that is inexpensive, easy on the environment, loaded with protein and vegetable-diet friendly need look no further than the lentil fields of Saskatchewan.
There, on about1.6 million hectares of gorgeous prairie cropland, Saskatchewan farmers are producing and exporting one of the hottest commodities to come out of the prairies since canola. And they’re loving every minute of it.
“We think lentils are great,” says Cherilyn Nagel, whose family dedicates about one-third of its 7,200hectare farm near Mossbank, 90 minutes west of Regina, to growing lentils. “They’re perfect for the crop rotation on our grain farm.”
Here’s why. Lentils particularly like Saskatchewan growing conditions: long days, cool nights and little rainfall. That’s a plus for Nagel. Her farm realized just one inch of rainfall all spring, hardly enough even for lentils.
And like other legumes or what are called “pulse” crops, lentils create their own nitrogen fertilizer, a trait called “fixing” nitrogen. That happens when bacteria in the soil form nodules on the plant roots and interact with air in the soil.
Most times, farmers don’t have to add extra nitrogen in the form of natural or chemical fertilizer. In fact, lentils produce more nitrogen than they use. So once they’re harvested, that excess nitrogen stays in the soil.
As a result, the next year, when farmers “rotate” different crops such as wheat, durum or canola into fields where lentils formerly grew, the new crops get a natural fertilizer boost. Not a lot, but enough to reduce at least some additional fertilizer.
It’s not all roses for lentils, though. They’re difficult to harvest because they’re relatively short compared to wheat or canola. Machinery has to run very close to the ground, which can damage the combine.
And they’re bushy plants, so the prairie wind doesn’t pass through them and keep them as dry as other crops. Dampness during rainy years leaves them open to plant disease; researchers are working to stave off this threat.
But overall, lentils rock. Over the past 25 years, the provincial government has invested significantly in lentil development, in partnership with farmers themselves, seed companies and the crop protection industry. Farmers pay a levy every time they sell lentils and other pulse crops; $11.6 million of that sum went into research and development last year. These efforts are working. Saskatchewan farmers now export more lentils than not just any other province, but rather, more than any other country in the world. Quality Canadian lentils are sought everywhere, particularly in India where they are a dietary staple.
That’s good for business. India has 1.3 billion people.
But farmers like Nagel want to make more of a dent in the Canadian market, too. Changing demographics and cultures mean there’s a new appetite for lentils, and she wants to make sure Canadian lentils are top of mind . . . including to the “consumers” on her own farm.
“We have two daughters and we’re teaching them how to cook lentils,” Nagel says. “This is local food, grown for all of Canada.”
Lentils particularly like Saskatchewan growing conditions: long days, cool nights and little rainfall