Domesticated lupins are a commodity of choice in Europe and Australia, with hopes they will make their way to Canada in pulse crop rotations.
Lupins outpace field peas and faba beans in terms of protein and starch level ratios, with up to 40 per cent protein and six per cent starch, making the crop attractive for plant-based protein production.
“The interest in Canada, especially in Western Canada, was always trying to look for something potentially new and different to try to bring into into our cropping rotations,” Robyne Davidson, a pulse research scientist at Lakeland College, said during a field school tour at Farming Smarter near Lethbridge.
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”Down here, you guys have way more options. I hail from central Alberta, where we basically have four, maybe five crops that we can rotate through,” says Davidson, who has been researching lupins for about 15 years.
Another draw that has piqued some Prairie interest has been lupins’ status as a pulse crop that stands up against aphanomyces root rot.
“We had a fantastic two million-acre industry in Alberta for field peas, and bam, we have aphanomyces that we have no (seed treatment) control for. We have this wonderful industry, that if we don’t figure it out, it’s going to take us down to nothing very quickly. I’ve watched it happen in France,” Davidson says.
“Lupins are absolutely resistant to aphanomyces. The difference is between ‘resistant’ and ‘tolerant.’ If you are a field pea or a lentil, aphanomyces is devastating to you; dry beans is a little bit variable. Same thing with chickpeas: you can grow chickpeas in a field with aphanomyces, and you will find lots of spores in the roots and the plant will seem fine. It may also be contributing to the population. When it comes to aphanomyces, we are looking at six to eight years before you can come back and kind of hope for the best.”
Potential markets
There also seems to be more of a thirst for a lupin market than seen during a failed push years ago. New research has shown it’s an excellent feed for livestock such as horses and dairy cattle, given its amino acid and fibre content.
According to Davidson, studies have shown a return on investment of five-to-one, with milk and butterfat production higher on a lupin feed diet than a soybean/corn diet.
“We talk about the feed industry, because we are not going to have a food industry until we have a well-established feed industry in this province for lupin,” she says, adding the feed to food industry use is about 80 to 20 per cent.
For all its positives in maintaining pulse crop diversity in rotation for soil health, fixing nitrogen, high protein levels and low disease pressure compared to other pulse crops, Davidson cautions lupins have very structured conditions to thrive, with careful site selection.
Lupins are sensitive to high-pH soils, performing poorly in alkaline soils with pH around 7.8. Lupins prefer acidic soils around 5-6.5, which in Alberta can be found more commonly the further north you go, into the Peace region. Lupins are better suited for areas with longer growing seasons, such as in southern Alberta with lower pH, and in Manitoba, with different varieties maturing in ranges of 95 to 125 days.
Odyssey or Basagran cannot be used for weed control for lupins. Edge can be used as a pre-emergent herbicide. Once you have weeds coming up in the crop, you are pretty much limited to Metribuzin.
Lupins are also a high-water crop, requiring 10-12 inches on a lighter soil, avoiding heavy clay. You can still get a decent crop with lower moisture, but a good crop of lupins will get you about 40-45 bushels per acre, Davidson says.
“If you have an area on your field that is maybe under seven (pH), then yes, maybe you can put it on there,” she says, adding economic factors also factor in with middling contracts currently of around $450 per tonne.
Davidson hopes lupins can follow the same path as field peas 25 years ago: a new crop no one grew and knew little about, it came to more prominence as soon as best practices management was improved. Its agronomic characteristics include the woody stem preventing lodging, and a strong taproot, with similar seeding and nutrient requirements to field peas.
Davidson is continuing to study the potential of lupins and is working with six different seed companies worldwide.
“These companies want lupins in Canada and they are knocking down the door,” she says, adding Australia, Denmark and France, and the U.K. have approached her.
“Over the past 10 years since I’ve been looking for and testing varieties, we have come a long way. There’s no question we need to find some varieties that are slightly more drought-tolerant. But I don’t think that’s a huge stretch. I think they’re out there. I just got to find them.”
To learn more about the variables in growing lupins, contact Davidson by email.
