Two seed growers – Justin Ritco with Condie Seeds at Lumsden and Thomas Winney with Winney Seed at Rosetown – recently appeared on the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers podcast.
AAC Beyond is a new yellow pea variety. Ritco says it has consistent high yield and protein levels.
"We've seen this level of yield in peas before, but usually that yield came along with some sort of negative attribute such as poor standability, too long season of variety, having seed coat breakage. But what makes AAC Beyond exciting is this top-end yield is in combination with an early maturity and moderately resistant Fusarium root rot package, which isn't something that we've seen before. And so it makes this variety a lot more well-rounded and desirable for growers."
AAC Julius is a smaller sized yellow pea compared to Beyond. Ritco says the smaller seed size of Julius means "growers can hit their target plant populations using fewer pounds per acre", making it "a more economical seeding operation." He also listed some of the differences between Julius and Beyond.
"Beyond is more compact, a shorter vine length, a shorter overall height. And Julius, even though it has a smaller pea size, it's actually a more robust plant overall, so it's a much bigger, much taller, longer vine length. And so both varieties are strong, but they bring different strengths to the farm. Julius, I'd say, is more efficient for seeding and Beyond, efficient harvest operation." Ritco said.
The new variety of red lentils is CDC 6928. Thomas Winny explained its performance in trials.
"The trial looked at different seeding rates and had numerous weed and disease ratings done through the season. And then the yield was taken. We brought that high seeding rate at 24 plants per square foot at 94 pounds per acre. We thought this was going to turn to silage because of the amount of moisture and disease pressure in our area. Unbelievably, that was the second most high yielding and the disease ratings were minimally higher. The highest yielding was 18 plants per square foot."
Winny talked about the differences between small and large red lentils.
"I guess typically we grow the small red lentils because of the market accessibility. The small red lentil is most suitable for dehauling, so that helps to increase the marketability. I could be wrong on this, but I feel as though the large red lentil are more of a niche market. For price differentials, I believe there's a premium for the large reds. However, there's more of a risk on moveability. I would suggest having a contract for growing the large reds. Where with the small reds, that isn't much of a concern." Winny said.
Improved disease resistance is also being reported in the new pulse varieties.
"I think having a variety with a good disease package, especially to Ascochyta anthracnose is very important, especially the rapid development of the fungicide resistance to Ascochyta." said Winny.
"Disease resistance is always important, and especially like Thomas said, as fungicide insensitivity is becoming more common. But I believe with red lentils specifically, our breeders have done a really good job at bringing those anthracnose race one resistance and Ascochyta ratings up across the board for all red lentils. Most lentils now that are being currently bred sit at a moderately resistant status for both varieties. While there are small differences and differences within that class of rating there, they're not huge. I think actually now, because of that advancement in breeding there, we're actually looking to other traits more, such as yield, maturity and color retention, standability when we're selecting between the red lentils, because again, that disease resistance has improved overall." Ritco added.
You can hear the full interview on the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers podcast.
(with files from Neil Billinger, CJWW)
