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.

”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.

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That’s the message from Dan Undersander, forage agronomist and professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin. He spoke during a three-day intensive forage workshop hosted by the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association at the University of Manitoba in March.

While many growers are aware of winterkill and stand thinning, they might not realize just how many diseases are chipping away at their yields — or when those issues can start.

“If you don’t know what you’re looking for, you won’t see it,” Undersander says. “And you’ll think that everything is just fine when it isn’t.”

Black stem

Black stem is caused by the fungus phoma medicaginis and is one of the most common alfalfa diseases across Canada’s Prairies. It tends to show up in cool, wet conditions and often appears early in the season.

According to the Manitoba Agriculture website, the disease can be identified in early spring by numerous dark spots on the lower leaves, petioles, and stems. These may expand into large black areas. Infected leaves often turn yellow and fall prematurely, and lesions that girdle the stem can cause wilting above the damage.

“If it causes complete girdling of the stem, then the stems will die,” Undersander says. “If you have enough of that, then your plant will die.”

Early cutting can help reduce losses, as can rotating with non-legumes for a few years before reseeding alfalfa.

Crown rot, root rots

A wide range of fungi — including fusarium, rhizoctonia, and phoma — cause crown and root rot, especially in older stands or those affected by winter injury. Symptoms include stunted growth, yellowing, and poor vigour.

“If crown rot is less than 50 per cent of the crown’s diameter, it’s probably worth keeping the stand,” Undersander says. “But if it exceeds 50 per cent, you should think about turning it over, because there’s a good chance it won’t survive.”

Winter crown rot, also known as snow mould, is another threat to alfalfa and other legumes. It’s caused by several soil-borne fungi that are most active during late fall and early spring when plants are dormant and soil temperatures are near freezing. Once the soil warms above 0 C, these fungi become inactive, and alfalfa is no longer at risk for this disease.

Aphanomyces

Aphanomyces is another type of root rot, caused by the oomycete aphanomyces euteiches, and has become a significant disease in alfalfa production, particularly in wet or poorly drained soils.

“If the seedlings are coming up and the cotyledon dies, but the seedling stays erect — that’s probably aphanomyces,” Undersander says.

It often appears on slopes rather than in low-lying areas, and its biggest effect is on root development. Undersander explained that aphanomyces causes root pruning, which weakens the alfalfa’s root system. As a result, the plants become less competitive, creating opportunities for weeds to invade the field.

Verticillium wilt

This cold-weather vascular disease was introduced from Europe and has been causing problems in British Columbia since the 1970s. It was first detected on the Prairies in 1998, in Manitoba, but has since spread to Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Undersander says it can be identified by what he calls a “thumbprint” on the leaf — irregular, pale or yellowish patches that appear on the leaves, which can resemble the shape or impression of a thumb.

“This is a disease that causes dead leaves on a green stem,” he says. “It causes problems because it’s attacking the vascular system.”

Symptoms are worst in spring and fall. Infected stands may die out in a few years, especially under irrigation. Rotating with cereals or grasses — and avoiding potatoes, sunflowers and sweet clover — is recommended.

Common leaf spot

Caused by the fungus pseudopeziza trifolii, this disease shows up as tiny black or brown circular spots on leaflets, with a lighter brown raised disc in the centre. As the infection spreads, leaves will yellow and drop early, reducing yield potential. It thrives in moist weather and overwinters in crop residue.

Manitoba Agriculture recommends cutting before leaves begin to fall, and using resistant varieties such as Rambler.

Downy mildew

This foliar disease shows up as pale blotches on the top of leaves and a violet, downy growth underneath. Plants may appear bunched or twisted at the top. It’s most active in spring and fall under wet, humid conditions but usually doesn’t cause serious damage.

Undersander points out that downy mildew can be a concern in both spring and fall. “Depending on the time of year, different organisms can be a problem,” he says.

According to Manitoba Agriculture, resistant cultivars such as Algonquin can be used for control, and rotating with cereals or grasses can help reduce infection.

Phytophthora

Phytophthora root rot is especially problematic in poorly drained areas and spreads through standing water in warm weather.

Even if phytophthora doesn’t kill the plant right away, Undersander says, it can severely damage the root. The plant may appear healthy for a while, but when dry conditions hit, it often can’t access enough moisture and will die as a result. He advises digging about six inches to check root health.

“You might keep the alfalfa for the current season,” he says, “but if the root is rotted off, you should plan on turning it over.”

Anthracnose

Though it’s often associated with lentils and dry beans, anthracnose can also be a yield thief in alfalfa — and it frequently goes unnoticed, Undersander says. The disease is identifiable by diamond-shaped lesions on the stem and sudden dieback at the top of the plant.

“There has been good resistance to it,” he says. “And we should think about taking advantage of that, because it will cause as much as a 20 or 30 per cent yield loss if you’re not paying attention.”

Timing matters

The appearance and impact of alfalfa diseases often depend on both the age of the stand and the time of year. Diseases such as phytophthora, pythium and black stem typically show up in new seedings, while bacterial wilt, fusarium wilt, crown rot and verticillium wilt are more common in older stands.

“You wouldn’t expect to see them in the first year or two, but you would maybe see them in the third or fourth year,” Undersander says.

Seasonal conditions also influence disease expression. Some pathogens thrive in cool, wet weather: downy mildew and verticillium wilt, for example, are often seen in spring and fall. Others, such as spring black stem and pythium, emerge early in the season, while summer black stem appears later.

Understanding when a disease is likely to appear can help with diagnosis and inform decisions about cutting, rotation and stand management.

Management tips

Undersander offers several general tips for alfalfa growers aiming to manage disease risk.

He recommends starting with good-quality seed and avoiding planting alfalfa after another legume. Where possible, he says, farmers should stick to planting in well-drained fields to help prevent root rot diseases and avoid wet spots that can foster pathogen growth. Maintaining good pH and nutrient levels is important, he adds, because vigorous plants are more disease-resistant. He suggests controlling insects, since they also introduce pathogens to a crop.

READ MORE: Alfalfa aptitude: five things to consider when selecting varieties

Farmers should also mow new seedlings before old stands, and try to mow clean fields before infected ones, to reduce disease spread.

“Wait till the dew is off before mowing,” Undersander advises. “I don’t recommend expecting all the dew to be gone, but at least a high portion of it.”

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On the good news side, there are management options that help reduce the risk, research is narrowing in on some treatments that may help control the disease, and plant breeding is making progress on resistance.

That’s the update from Michelle Hubbard, a research scientist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Swift Current Research and Development Centre and a plant pathologist specializing in pulse crop diseases.

As Hubbard told producers attending the recent Western Applied Research Corporation (WARC) crop conference, being aware of the potential risk of aphanomyces root rot is an important first step in dealing with the disease.

“Unfortunately there are no in-crop rescue treatments that work for controlling aphanomyces,” Hubbard says. “But the best approach is first to be aware that the disease is out there and avoid fields that are at high risk of disease development.”

She recommends having soil or pulse crop roots tested for signs of the disease. There is good information online about collecting samples; growers can also consult one of the provincial pulse crop associations or ask a crop consultant how to collect samples and where to have materials tested.

Aphanomyces euteiches is a root rot pathogen that thrives under wet conditions. It was first detected on the Prairies about a dozen years ago, but it’s suspected to have been around for much longer. Field peas and lentils are the pulses most affected by aphanomyces, while other crops such as chickpea, faba bean and soybean appear to have resistance.

Infected pea and lentil plants will appear wilted and yellow and symptoms are often first detected in low spots or the perimeter of drowned-out areas.

“At times aphanomyces can be very patchy in a field,” Hubbard says, “although whole fields can be affected” and infection levels can range from relatively mild to severe.

She says if producers suspect a production issue, they should have soil and/or root samples tested. Infected roots will become mushy and may have a caramel discolouration, but this can be masked by other root rots. The best way to confirm an aphanomyces infection is by submitting a soil or root sample to a lab.

If you’re planning to grow peas or lentils in fields where pulse crops have not been grown for several years, she says to have soil tested to make sure the field is disease free.

What doesn’t work

Hubbard says research at seven different sites across Western Canada over the past six years is helping to sort the wheat from the chaff in terms of which treatments don’t work and which show some promise.

In the what-doesn’t-work column, intercropping peas with canola, mustard, camelina or oats doesn’t appear to be of any value in controlling the disease. The thinking with intercropping peas with brassicas has been that the glucosinolates in oilseeds would break down in the soil, producing an antifungal or biofumigant compound that might check the aphanomyces pathogen — but so far they have seen no effect.

Hubbard cautions not to throw out the intercropping idea completely. While it didn’t have any effect on the root rot disease, they did observe the pea/mustard and pea/canola intercropping showed a yield benefit at some sites, some years.

Applying herbicides also didn’t reduce disease levels on the pulse crop — but again, there are pros and cons. Hubbard says on the “con” side, herbicides can actually be a stress on the crop and weaken plants, making the crop more susceptible to disease injury. On the “pro” side, however, a herbicide application can control weeds such as shepherd’s purse, chickweed, vetches and others that are also hosts for aphanomyces pathogens.

Other treatments that so far also appear ineffective in controlling aphanomyces are biocontrol and natural products, including arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) which can be effective in controlling other pathogens.

Treatments that might work

Results have been a bit sporadic, but Hubbard says research has shown some benefit from some treatments at some sites, “so it is worth looking at those practices further.”

Practices which appeared to produce some benefit in some locations included liming and applying gypsum, both of which can increase soil calcium.

“There are certain liming products such as spent lime from sugar beet processing, which helps to increase soil pH and calcium levels, which may have a benefit,” Hubbard says.

In looking at liming and gypsum treatments at the Swift Current site in 2022, for example, gypsum didn’t reduce the disease load, but it did appear to have a real benefit in increasing yields.

“That was in 2022, and then to add to the confusion in 2023 at the Swift Current site, gypsum appeared to have an effect in reducing root rot infection, but it had no effect on yield,” Hubbard says. “So this is telling us that gypsum and liming can have an effect — we just need to figure out how and why.”

WATCH: AgGronomy TV: Avoiding root rot in pulse crops

While biocontrol products so far haven’t been effective, Hubbard says new products are still in development which could reduce disease load or strengthen crops against the disease.

One natural product being evaluated, is under development by MustGrow Biological Corp. in Saskatoon. The company uses extracted and concentrated molecules from mustard plants, with the goal of commercializing them as natural, organic biopesticides, biofumigants and bioherbcides.

Hubbard is also looking at whether increasing rates of nitrogen fertilizer with pulse crops might be an effective treatment in reducing yield losses due to root rot.

And, of course, plant breeding is another important tool in developing crops with disease resistance. She says the University of Saskatchewan is getting close to releasing a field pea variety with some measure of resistance to aphanomyces.

Developing a lentil variety with disease resistance, however, appears to be a longer-term breeding project.

Take-home message for 2024

With research rolling along in the background, producers are advised to follow the best management practices for producing pulse crops this coming year.

• Be watchful for signs of root rot disease and have soil and plant roots tested to determine if the disease is present.
• Assess your disease risk, avoid fields with known issues, or sites with high moisture which may be prone to disease development.
• Follow a proper crop rotation, avoiding back-to-back pulse crops on the same field, and, if possible, produce pulse crops in a four-year rotation, which helps reduce the risk of disease development.
• If the disease is detected it may require a seven- or eight-year break in rotation before peas and lentils are seeded again.
• Grow other types of pulse crops, such as chickpea, faba bean or soybean, which are resistant to aphanomyces.
• Use good-quality seed, which helps to produce seedlings with high vigour.
• Use seed treatments that provide some measure of protection against root rot and other diseases.
• Select varieties with disease resistance — such as a pea variety with moderate resistance to fusarium — again, to produce a healthy crop stand.
• Make sure the pulse crop has proper nutrition.
• Keep good records on how pea and lentil crops perform during the growing season.

“Research continues to evaluate best management practices and also to better understand the disease complex which affects peas and lentil crops,” Hubbard says. “And when we do have new varieties with disease resistance, we will need to take care of it. Pathogens are always looking to adapt to and overcome genetic resistance, so it is important to apply proper management to protect that resistance as best and for as long as we can.”

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A: As one navigates the supply and demand factors of commodity economics, the act of grain marketing seems to be one of the more challenging components of the modern-day farming operation. However, the more significant challenge you should be tackling is the management of long-term sustainability and focusing on your return on investment (ROI) over the years — like any successful business. 

One of the best ways to ensure a higher probability of success with a field operation is to have an integrated crop management plan that includes proper crop rotations. Short rotations promote the buildup of disease and pest loads and can also have a negative effect on soil health, soil nutrient supply and soil moisture. By incorporating an integrated crop management approach, you will be able to break pest and disease cycles by removing a consistent medium for pathogens to thrive on, which can lead to lower spore loads and less need for pesticides in the future. 

Rotation decisions should also consider the viability of the spores and how long of a break is needed between growing a susceptible crop. For example, in pea and lentil fields that have confirmed the presence of aphanomyces, a break of six to eight years is recommended to allow spore levels to decrease in the soil. 

However, spores related to fusarium head blight often come from infected cereal stubble and, therefore, adequate time is needed for the cereal stubble to break down — so a four-year rotation is recommended in that case. 

There are additional tactics that can be implemented with an integrated crop management plan that can enhance ROI. Use of seed treatments and seed enhancements can help promote germination and enhance cereal seedling health. The use of fertilizer catalyst products can increase fertilizer-nutrient availability, which leads to increased root and plant growth. Split applications of fertilizer in crop can have a beneficial effect on yield and are also a viable means of managing protein content in cereals, especially hard red spring wheats. 

These are just some examples of management strategies that can enhance production while working within an integrated crop management plan. And there are more options and opportunities available that can further enhance crop production, making the farm operation sustainable now and in years to come. 

– Tom Zatorski, PAg, is the manager of agronomic solutions in north-central Saskatchewan for Nutrien Ag Solutions.

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Dyrland, who crops about 16,000 acres of pulses, grains and oilseeds southwest of Kyle, says many farmers are caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to growing pulse crops. Obviously, rain is needed to help crops grow, but it doesn’t take a great deal of moisture to trigger an outbreak of the soil-borne disease, which can quickly reduce or wipe out yield in lentil and pea crops.

“It is just a devastating situation for ourselves and many other farmers,” says Dyrland. “Lentils have been the most profitable, best-returning crop on our farm, but now aphanomyces is forcing us to reduce acres, extend rotations as best we can and look at alternative crops.

“We manage it the best we can, but I really don’t see any solution until we get varieties with genetic resistance to the disease and/or seed treatments that are also effective against the pathogen.”

And until some type of a silver bullet (if it even exists) is developed, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada researcher and plant pathologist Syama Chatterton says the best approach is, first, to manage rotations to hopefully prevent the disease from appearing on your farm and if it is already present to apply management practices that reduce the effects of the disease. There is no quick fix — it’s about making the best of a complicated situation.

Cropping rotation near Kyle

Dyrland, who farms with family members, crops a total of 16,000 acres including about 2,000 acres under irrigation and 14,000 acres of dryland. Crop rotation includes pulse crops on about 50 per cent of their dryland acres — large green and red lentils, yellow peas and, more recently, Kabuli chickpeas. The rest of the farm is seeded to canola, durum and barley.

Dyrland says it was about 25 years after growing the first pulse crops — Laird lentils in the late 1990s — that serious disease issues showed up on the farm. Aphanomyces wasn’t identified until the 2016 growing season, and then it hit with a vengeance.

“According to local weather records, we had about 40 inches of rain that year,” says Dyrland. “Everything was saturated, crops were lost, but we learned the underlying issue with the pulse crops was aphanomyces.

“Up until then, there might be a low spot on the field where the crop died out, but we figured it was just too much moisture. We’ve come to realize probably that was a patch of field infected with aphanomyces and now it has spread.”

Dyrland, who is also the chair of Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, says on his farm the lentils appear to be more susceptible to the disease — yield can be wiped out — whereas yellow peas are not as seriously affected.

To manage the disease risk, Dyrland says he extends the rotation between susceptible pulse crops as much as possible and for the past four years that has involved bringing Kabuli chickpeas into the rotation. They grow reasonably well in his area and chickpeas show resistance to aphanomyces.

Faba beans and soybeans are also pulse/legume crops less susceptible to root rot disease, but because they are later maturing, they really don’t have a fit in Dyrland’s rotation.

Dyrland says the persistence of the pathogen that causes root rot disease, Aphanomyces euteiches, poses a particular challenge. The recommendations are to extend rotations between pulse crops by four, six or, even, eight years. “Yet we have some fields where we haven’t grown a pulse crop for 10 to 15 years and when we did plant peas or lentils, the disease was still active,” he says. “It is extremely long lived.”

As of early April, Dyrland shakes his head thinking about cropping decisions for the 2022 season — they may not be made until the last minute. It has been a low snowfall (dry) winter in his area and he didn’t expect to be in the field until the soil warms up in early May.

“We have a few things to consider,” he says. “The 2021 growing season was a major drought in this area and we are still dry. Soil testing shows we have high residual fertility in the soil. The tests are also showing, in some fields, we have a high risk of Group 2 herbicide carryover (there just wasn’t enough moisture to dissipate chemical in the soil profile). And then there is also the risk of what happens if we do get moisture, which could mean a serious outbreak of aphanomyces.

“We have a pretty good idea of what we’d like to do this year, but there are a lot of variables to affect cropping decisions. It will probably come down to what the conditions are like as we are about to head out to the field.”

And on the research front

Chatterton, who is based at the Lethbridge Research and Development Centre, says trying to manage pulse crop root rots — aphanomyces in particular — is a complex business.

These naturally occurring pathogens are like a nightmare visitor who arrives at your doorstep and never wants to leave.

There are several pathogens that fall into the category of root rot diseases, which include Pythium spp., Botrytis spp., Fusarium spp. and Rhizoctonia solani. All of these pathogens can be damaging to pea and lentil yields in varying degrees of severity. However, all can be controlled to some extent with seed treatments and all seem to have a more limited resting spore lifespan than the aphanomyces-causing pathogen, A. euteiches.

“Aphanomyces euteiches is the most damaging to peas and lentils of all the root rots. There is no effective control, and we really have no good handle on how long it will persist in the soil,” says Chatterton. “Some of the older literature and recommendations say it can persist for 10 to 20 years. More current recommendations are to extend rotation to six to eight years between susceptible crops, but even that doesn’t work in every situation. I think it really comes down to the soil type and the moisture regime in any given area.”

Chatterton says with 2021 being a very dry year in many parts of Western Canada, root rot severity was relatively low, “but that doesn’t mean that farmers should be complacent,” she says. “It is still out there. So don’t use 2021 as an indicator. Think back to the last time you grew peas or lentils in a more normal or higher-moisture growing season — how did your crops perform?”

If pulse crops are infected with root rot disease, she says it is important to determine which pathogen it is. She recommends having the soil or, better yet, root samples tested to determine which pathogen is present. None of the diseases are great, but crop rotation and seed treatments might be more effective if you’re only dealing with Fusarium spp., for example. A different management approach might be required if the pathogen is A. euteiches.

“My recommendation is, during the growing season, send samples of infected roots to a lab for proper testing,” she says. “That’s more certain than testing a soil sample. Then a farmer knows for sure what they are dealing with.”

Chatterton’s research looks at root rot from a couple of different perspectives. First, what is the proper rotation interval between susceptible pulse crops if you don’t have aphanomyces on the farm? Also, what is an appropriate interval if the disease pathogen is already there? In another research project she is looking at some other cultural practices, which might help to reduce the effects of the disease.

In terms of rotation and cropping intervals, Chatterton says if there is no aphanomyces in a field or on the farm, aim for at least a one-in-four-year rotation between pulse crops. “The longer the interval between susceptible pulse crops, the lower the risk of the disease developing on your farm,” she says.

If root rot pathogens are present on the farm, a longer interval of perhaps six to eight years between susceptible pulse crops is recommended, but again there is no guarantee. She says a lot will depend on the soil type and moisture regime.

A look at cultural practices

Research involving cultural practices hasn’t arrived at any firm conclusions, but it’s showing some promise at helping reduce the effects of the disease.

One area of research is looking at the use of certain preceding crops to reduce the effects of root rot the following year. Crops such as mustard, oats and even faba beans are known to produce biofumigants, meaning they release chemical compounds that naturally control root rot pathogens.

“The idea is to seed one of these crops on a field, then plow it under as green manure and the following season seed peas or lentils on that field,” says Chatterton. “Chemicals released in the green manure may help control the severity of the root rot.”

Preliminary findings in research trials at Lacombe, in the black soil zone, show faba beans and oats used as green manure appeared to benefit pea yields the following year. However, there was no apparent benefit when the trial was carried out on plots within the brown and dark brown soil zones.

To Chatterton, that suggests the effect is biomass dependent. In the black soil zone, there was more green manure biomass plowed into the soil producing a greater chemical effect on the pathogen, compared with, perhaps, a lighter or thinner green manure crop in the drier growing areas.

Non-host crops

In one other area of research, Chatterton is using root rot-resistant or non-host pulse crops in rotation with susceptible pulse crops to see if the non-host crops can be used to reduce the rotation interval for susceptible pulse crops.

Pulse crops such as faba beans, chickpeas and soybeans are resistant or even considered as non-host pulse crops when it comes to aphanomyces. Could these crops be used in rotation with peas, for example, to help reduce disease levels and the pea crop interval — grow peas one year then plant a resistant pulse crop for one or more years following?

“We looked at growing these non-host pulse crops in a rotation with two-, three-, four- and five-year intervals between pea crops and, basically, we found you’re going to have to wait a long time before you see an effect,” says Chatterton.

“And it may depend on where you farm,” she adds. “At Taber (east of Lethbridge), the resistant crops were grown as part of an eight-year rotation cycle between pea crops and there was still no reduction in disease level. However, at Redvers, in southeastern Saskatchewan, there appeared to be some benefit after four years. So, there was no conclusive recommendation. It may depend on the soil type and moisture regime.”

Chatterton says even though there is no effective registered seed treatment for aphanomyces, she recommends using the products on all pulse crop seeds, just to help the seedlings get off to a good start. One of the issues with A. euteiches is it can infect the pulse crop at any time, not just at the seedling stage.

For more information on dealing with pulse crop diseases, the provincial pulse growers’ associations along with the University of Saskatchewan have produced an excellent fact sheet called, Root Rot in Peas and Lentils in Western Canada (opens as a PDF). It is available online.

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Pulse growers are being urged to go up to eight years between plantings of either peas or lentils, which dominate pulse acres in the province.

“Our susceptible crops are pea and lentil and, to a lesser extent, dry bean. The disease is pretty widely spread, pretty much all the way across Alberta,” said Jenn Walker, research manager with the Alberta Pulse Growers Commission.

The commission, like other pulse organizations, recommends growing pulses every four years, both to meet growing demand and to break up disease cycles.

“It’s important for us to communicate that rotation is important and if growers pull out the pulse because of fear of aphanomyces, they are actually intensifying the potential for disease in canola and cereals,” said Walker.

And growing pulses every four years is definitely doable, she added.

The good news is there are aphanomyces-resistant pulse crops such as soybeans (an oilseed, but one that fixes nitrogen), fababeans and lupins.

“Really what we’re seeing now is that a producer can grow a faba or soybean where it is appropriate, with good potential for lupins as we learn more,” said Walker.

Favourites under siege

Aphanomyces, a soil-borne pathogen that attacks roots of infected plants, has been a nightmare for many growers.

It can spread across fields, particularly in wet years and while there may not be clear signs of an infestation initially, yields can be slashed with wide swaths of the crop looking like they’ve been drowned out. When pulled, the roots of severely affected plants may be little more than a wisp. Growers report that pea fields seem more susceptible than lentils, but scientists say both can suffer severe yield loss.

And they say it can take many years for spore loads to decrease to the point where you can safely grow peas or lentils again.

“In some locations, we’ve found some recovery after four years, whereas in other locations, we’re pushing six to seven years and we haven’t seen recovery yet,” said Syama Chatterton, an Agriculture Canada plant pathologist in Lethbridge.

But shifting to something other than peas and lentils would be a huge change.

In the past five growing seasons, those two crops have accounted for anywhere from 91 to 96 per cent of Alberta pulse acres, according to Statistics Canada data. In contrast, fabas have been around two per cent of acres during that time (2016-20) while soybeans barely make the StatsCan report and lupins don’t show up at all.

But the federal agency’s estimate for this year also shows a significant drop in pea acreage. While Alberta growers have grown 1.8 million acres of peas in three of the last five years, this year’s total has dropped to just over 1.4 million acres. (However, wheat acres have also gone down with canola and barley acres grabbing the land that had gone to wheat and peas last year.)

Fababeans have seen an uptick in acres this year (nearly 60,000 acres versus 35,000 or less in the past four years) but they “are quite different from other pulses,” said Walker.

“They are a very long-season crop, so they require a lot of days to complete their life cycle,” she said. “They need to be planted early, and they will be one of the last things harvested.”

The markets for fababeans — both for human food and feed — are expanding, she added.

A staple food in North Africa and the Middle East, they are the highest-protein pulse grown in Alberta, which makes them very attractive for poultry and swine rations. They can be used in cattle rations as well.

Fababeans offer lots of options, since they can be grown in high-tannin or low-tannin varieties.

“We have a lot of research going on to support the basic agronomy,” said Walker. “Pulse growers themselves have really done a lot of work on the agronomy side. That makes them a plausible, unique, attractive option.”

Former provincial pulse agronomist Mark Olson agrees.

“Fababeans make good sense because they have been researched in Alberta for quite some time,” said Olson, who now works in the private sector. “It’s definitely a good crop to look at.”

A different sort of pulse

Olson has also been helping investigate the use of lupins in the province.

Two varieties of lupin are being tested in Canada; one in Manitoba and one in Alberta. Both varieties have resistance to aphanomyces.

“There are 280 species of lupin, but there are only a few that are agriculturally important,” he said. “One is the narrow leaf blue lupin, and the other is the white lupin.”

The narrow leaf blue lupin is more suited to Alberta, and the white to Manitoba. Koralta Agri-Business has started growing narrow leaf blue lupin of the Boregine variety in Alberta and growing contracts will be awarded in August 2021, he said. AgCall, another Calgary-based company, is assisting with the commercialization and research of lupin.

Narrow leaf blue lupin is grown extensively in Australia and is used primarily in feed applications. However, it can also be used in food applications. Companies in Europe use the narrow leaf blue lupin in plant protein applications such as yogurt, ice cream, salad dressings, and mayonnaise, said Olson.

“The narrow leaf blue lupin likes soil pH below 7.2 so it rules out a lot of the brown and dark-brown soil zones because their pHs are quite a bit higher,” he said. “The Europeans and the Australians I checked with are pretty adamant that soil pH has a huge impact on the narrow leaf blue lupin.”

Provincial research found narrow leaf blue lupin are earlier maturing than white lupin — somewhere between late pea and early fababean, said Olson. (White lupin maturity is similar to soybean, which is why it’s being looked at for Manitoba.)

Use is expanding — an eastern Canadian company is making a lupin hummus and the pulse is also used for products such as the high-protein Blue Menu pancake mix (a Loblaws’ President’s Choice label).

In addition to high protein (34 to 40 per cent), lupins have very low starch levels (less than two per cent).

“It falls in between fababean and soybean in terms of its protein, but it has very little starch,” said Olson. “The oddity is it has an oil to it. A lot of pulse crops have one to 1.5 per cent oil. They are quite low in oil. But lupin will have, depending on the species and variety, between six to eight per cent oil and fat.

“There’s a possibility of utilizing the oil in products like salad dressing and stuff.”

Lupin will grow best in the black and thin black soil zones, where there are enough frost-free days with lots of moisture and high organic matter.

Olson said that researchers are also looking at winter pulses in the far south, and there has been new variety development in winter pea and winter lentil.

Alexis Kienlen is a reporter with the Alberta Farmer Express. Her article appeared in the June 14, 2021 issue.

The post What can you grow if root rot kicks out peas and lentils? appeared first on Grainews.

Manitoba

As of recent years, soybean has become one of the more widely grown crops in Manitoba. Root and stem diseases are the main concern. Soybean is a relatively new crop to the province and, as such, disease pressure is still quite low.

Why it matters: New threats are emerging while the incidence and spread of established diseases continue. Understand what’s happening in your province to inform disease management decisions.

“But we are expecting it to develop as we continue to grow soybeans,” says Cassandra Tkachuk, production specialist, Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers. “We know that stem and root diseases can have the biggest impact on production and quality.”

Stem diseases such as sclerotinia root and stem rot haven’t been a real problem in soybeans in Manitoba yet, but the risk is greater for those who have tighter rotations of host crops. “It is also largely weather dependent,” adds Tkachuk. “Risk can be there across many years, but only expressed if conditions are ‘right,’ around the time of flowering.”

Northern stem canker is also starting to appear more often, she says.

Fusarium is the No. 1 root pathogen across all pulse crops, including soybeans. Fusarium is almost always present, but not always at high levels. An opportunistic pathogen, it will often set in when other diseases infect the plant.

Exclusive to soybeans, the pathogen Phytophthora has been making an appearance as well, although at very low levels in 2020. Like Aphanomyces, it likes and depends on wet environmental conditions.

There has been quite a jump in pea acres in Manitoba as of late, making aphanomyces root rot a top concern. If the pathogen is present in the field, growers should aim for a six- to eight-year break period.

“Although we have fewer pea acres than other provinces, it might even be a greater concern here due to wetter conditions from time to time,” says Tkachuk.

She also reminds growers that long rotations have other benefits too. They prevent volunteer plants from becoming weeds, help diversify herbicide programs and provide opportunities for soil fertility management and nutrient building.

New threat in the neighbourhood

Tkachuk warns producers to watch out for soybean cyst nematode (SCN) in their soybean crops. The openings on the roots of soybean plants infected by SCN may cause the plants to be more susceptible to the development of root rot and seedling diseases.

While the pest was identified in the province for the first time in 2019, it is currently not a big problem. However, as soybean production continues, so too will SCN’s presence, says Tkachuk. Four fields have tested positive for SCN in four out of 18 municipalities so far.

“There were only four fields and at very low levels, so consistent with recent establishment,” she adds.

Tkachuk is encouraging farmers to scout randomly for SCN symptoms. Once above-ground symptoms are evident, growers can expect up to 30 per cent yield loss. She recommends scouting high-risk areas, such as low spots and field approaches.

To determine if the pests are present, soak the roots of plants taken from random locations in your field in water and look for small, lemon-shaped cysts on those roots. Note that cysts will be smaller than root nodules.

Key management strategies for SCN include rotation and using resistant varieties. “The way it works with that pest is if you’re rotating away from its main host, which is thankfully only soybeans, you’re just starving the pest,” said Tkachuk. “The longer the break period, the less it can survive and the less it will hurt your yield.”

Tkachuk also warns growers some soybean varieties have lost resistance to SCN because of how widely they’ve been used in past years.

Scouting calendars for pulse and soybean crops in Manitoba are available at the Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers website.

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan pulse crop growers had their share of disease pests in 2020. In peas and lentils, the biggest issue is root rot. Aphanomyces is the main pathogen of concern and Fusarium is a close second.

Sherrilyn Phelps, agronomy manager at Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, says there’s a lot of information on the organization’s website that explains how to reduce the risk of aphanomyces root rot for 2021. For example, field choice, rotation and testing for the pathogen are important, she says.

Anthracnose continues to be the disease of concern in lentils. It was a problem for growers in 2020, and once it starts appearing, says Phelps, it can be very aggressive.

Saskatchewan Pulse Growers has been involved in a project that’s evaluating the level of anthracnose insensitivity to strobilurin fungicides.

“There was a concern brought forward this past spring regarding high levels of resistance and we are just in the process of getting the samples from this summer analyzed through the Ag Canada station at Swift Current with Michelle Hubbard,” says Phelps. “We don’t have the results from the over 100 samples that were submitted through the survey (last) year, but managing anthracnose that has potential resistance to the Group 11 herbicides is a real concern going forward.”

Aschochyta rabiei, which causes aschochyta blight, remains the pathogen of concern in chickpeas, especially as producers begin to see insensitivity to Group 11 fungicides. Phelps says there’s information on the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers website about how to manage aschochyta as well as fungicide insensitivity.

Mystery disease

A second issue affected chickpea acres last year, but agronomists don’t know what it is yet. What agronomists are currently calling a “chickpea health issue” was found in almost every chickpea field in the province in 2020. Fields with greater incidence of infection saw some yield loss, while less-infected fields were not affected yield-wise. In some cases, the health issue delayed maturity, which led to quality issues.

“We’ve had it now for two years and we’re working to try to identify what it is,” says Phelps. “It could have a link to a disease of some sort, but we don’t know yet.”

The best advice at this point includes reducing risk by watching for residual herbicides, application timing and potential nutrient deficiencies and managing for disease.

In fababean, Saskatchewan Pulse Growers identified three foliar diseases of concern — botrytis chocolate spot, stemphylium blight and alternaria leaf spot.

“We still don’t know the disease impact on yield, but there’s some research projects underway evaluating that,” says Phelps.

In dry beans, blight has been the main concern. There were not many issues in soybeans in 2020, besides the drier conditions in August, which affected yields.

Alberta

Similar to Saskatchewan and Manitoba, aphanomyces root rot is the biggest issue in lentil crops in Alberta, although lentil acreage is very localized. In a wet year, the biggest issue in lentils is sclerotinia.

“Sclerotinia moves into the lentils right around flowering, the canopy closes and then we’re done,” says Robyne Bowness Davidson, Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development pulse research scientist.

Just like their neighbours to the east, Alberta’s pea growers are also challenged by aphanomyces. Alberta tends to have wetter, heavier soils that are higher in organic matter, so when aphanomyces moves in it can be quite devastating, says Bowness Davidson. Adopting best management practices, including planting high-quality seed into clean fields, are the only solutions for aphanomyces, she adds.

Although fababeans are susceptible to diseases, the crop faces no real issues in Alberta. Fungicides are available for any diseases that do occur.

In Alberta, chickpea acreage is much lower than it is in Saskatchewan. The good news is in this province, the mysterious health issue observed in Saskatchewan was not found in 2020.

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Genetics that originated in California in the 1950s resulted in leafless pea vines and dwarf varieties found their way to the United Kingdom at Cambridge in the 1960s. Here they were first developed into self-standing pea crops with low leaf counts that did not lodge with the first breath of wind.

Pea breeding worldwide and on the Canadian Prairies has been highly successful, with a range of excellent agronomic varieties. Pea protein is highly desirable and highly digestible, making up around 24 per cent or more of the pea seed. Here we have a cool-season crop, either yellow or green peas that can average 40 to 50 bushels an acre with the ability to fix either most or all of its nitrogen requirements.

Peas are the least demanding of soil moisture of all the major crops and are generally the first crop to mature in late August, leaving ample time for seeding of winter wheat or perhaps a winter catch crop of rye or a mixture of cover crop plants or volunteer peas.

Pea vines break down very easily in soil having a much higher nitrogen-to-carbon ratio than cereals and therefore do not tie up nitrogen in the soil for the following year’s crop.

On the Prairies, we grow some three to four million acres (1.6 million hectares) annually, with less than three per cent of the crop grown in Manitoba and the rest split almost equally between Alberta and Saskatchewan.

With the slow trend happening in North America to plant-based proteins instead of animal protein, pea protein has taken on significant importance. I have seen several references to a pea processing plant promised for the Portage, Man., area. Will this mean a huge jump in pea growing in the province up from the present three per cent of the Prairie pea crop?

The pea crop has a significant number of destructive diseases on the Prairies, such as ascochyta, fusarium wilt, pythium, bacterial blight, mycosphaerella and so on, but one giant biggie — aphanomyces root rot or brown root rot.

Aphanomyces root rot has the potential to ruin economically productive field crops in the near future.

Many diseases of the Prairie pea crop have either been eliminated by plant breeders or they can be kept in check with fungicides and crop rotations. Not so for aphanomyces root rot.

Aphanomyces not only attacks peas, but strains of this soil-borne fungus can be destructive on lentils and it also attacks dry beans, faba beans, red clover and sainfoin to some degree.

There is no known resistance to aphanomyces and this soil-borne fungus can persist in the soil for up to 10 years or more. This water mould fungus is similar in many ways to clubroot of canola in the way that it spreads and the way it can persist in the soil. A clubroot-type destructive disease of peas without the club roots. Aphanomyces has destroyed pea industries in countries like France and New Zealand.

In surveys done recently across the Canadian Prairies some 40 per cent of cropland that has grown peas tests positive for this root-rotting fungus. A disease that under moist or wet growing conditions can wipe out a quarter section of peas.

Once this disease is established in a field, you will need at least a six-year rotation before replanting to a pea crop. A DNA test of the cropland soil can easily confirm the presence of this fungus.

This fungus is active throughout the pea and lentil growing season. The zoospores of this fungus can attack all stages of pea plant growth. I have seen rills (drainage lines) in pea and lentil crops where every plant downhill from the infection source is killed out. Big, brown, dead streaks of peas or lentils for hundreds of feet.

Control of aphanomyces (pea root rot)

The disease is not generally seed-borne, but a good, clean source of seed is needed, since damaged or discoloured seed may be infected. Seed treatments will help establishment of pea plants under light field infestations.

Again, an ounce of prevention will ensure that you grow at least a 45-bushel crop of peas.

Pea root rot moves into new cropland about the same way as clubroot. Follow the clubroot protocol.

Root rot of peas moves from field to field and farm to farm in the following ways:

• Farm equipment including grain trucks — there are millions of spores on the mud of your equipment.
• Custom fertilizer equipment.
• Custom seeding equipment.
• Custom harvesting equipment, sales of straw bales and truck tires.
• Borrowed service equipment.
• Oilfield service equipment.
• Powerline installation equipment.
• New pipelines for oil or gas.
• Recreation equipment.
• Drainage problems from one field to another. This fungus loves moving in water or waterlogged areas of the field.

If your land is free from pea root rot (a DNA test will tell you), avoid any traffic onto your cropland — you can then become a pea grower. You will have other pea diseases but you will keep out the big destructor pea root rot, also called brown root rot or aphanomyces root rot.

Ensure your future as a pea or lentil grower by steadfastly following the clubroot protocol. Do not allow your cropland to become contaminated with this most destructive of crop diseases.

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A: Aphanomyces is a serious soil-borne disease of peas and lentils that is becoming increasingly widespread in Western Canada.

Aphanomyces euteiches is a root rot pathogen that thrives under wet conditions. Symptoms are often first detected in low spots or the perimeter of drowned-out areas; however, whole fields can be affected. Under severe infections, yield losses can be as high as 70 per cent.

If you suspect you may have aphanomyces, early detection is key. Little can be done to control an infection in season, but management strategies can be put into place to prevent severe infections in the future.

Infected plants will appear wilted and yellow. Roots will become mushy and may have a caramel discolouration, but this can be masked by other root rots. The best way to confirm an aphanomyces infection is by submitting a soil or root sample to a lab.

Once aphanomyces is detected, there is no silver bullet for control. There are no foliar fungicides registered for aphanomyces, and work on varietal resistance is ongoing. Seed treatments for aphanomyces are available; however, infection of mature plants can occur well into summer and seed treatments only offer seedling protection.

Long rotations are central to an effective management strategy. The pathogen can survive in the soil for many years without a host, so a six- to eight-year break from susceptible crops is recommended. Cereals and oilseeds, including wheat, barley, oats, canola and soybeans, are non-hosts.

Faba beans, which are partially resistant to aphanomyces, are a good pulse crop option during the six- to eight-year break from peas and lentils. Forage crops should be selected carefully, as some forage legumes are highly susceptible to aphanomyces (e.g. cicer milk vetch) while others are partially resistant (e.g. sanfoin).

Heavy, wet and compacted soils are at the greatest risk for disease development. Effective management strategies include drainage and water management, compaction management and field selection for fast-drain- ing soils. Field selection should also consider history of pulse crops and past observations of root rot presence and severity.

Fields with a history of severe root rots should be avoided. As much as possible, prevent the spread of disease by reducing movement of soil between fields.

As always, crop nutrition is vital. Plants with access to adequate nutrients are less susceptible to disease. Properly inoculating pea and lentil crops gives them the best chance of fixing enough nitrogen to meet their needs. Whenever possible, refer to a recent soil test to ensure all other nutrient requirements are being met.

Stacie Yaremko, CCA, PAg, is a manager of agronomic services for Nutrien Ag Solutions in northern Alberta.

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It was a fine June morning when Conner set out to see how his pea crop was doing on his farm near Canora, Sask. However, his day turned sour when he realized the peas in several of his fields were in trouble.

Conner reached out to me shortly after that. “The pea stand is poor in some of my fields,” he said. “I’m wondering if it has something to do with the quality of the seed or, maybe, herbicide drift.”

I assured Conner I’d come out to see what I could do. When I arrived at Conner’s farm and walked into one of the affected fields, I could see there were large areas where the pea plants had very poor top growth. I also observed within the field there were places with yellowing peas, but they didn’t appear in distinct patches.

When I dug up a few of the yellowing plants, I saw the roots were honey-brown in colour and it was evident they hadn’t developed properly — there weren’t very many lateral roots and, generally, there was much less root growth than you would expect.

It was the same story in two other pea fields Conner showed me, which was a stark contrast to his remaining unaffected pea fields, where the crop was healthy, lush and green. I learned from Conner that the same seed and inoculant had been used across all of the fields.

All of Conner’s pea fields appeared to be relatively clean, with little weed pressure. None of the sickly-looking plants in the affected fields exhibited any signs of herbicide injury that I could see, and previous applications would not have been expected to cause injury through residual activity.

The symptoms didn’t look like a nutrient issue, and there wasn’t anything to suggest this when I reviewed Conner’s fertility program for his pea crops.

At this point, though, I thought I had a good idea what was behind the problem peas.

Crop Advisor’s Solution: Aphanomyces at root of pea problem

At this point, all signs pointed to disease as the culprit.

Based on the symptoms, the ailing pea plants appeared to be suffering from some kind of root rot, and although the weather had turned dry over the past few days, conditions had been wet for a number of weeks and were, therefore, conducive to fungal development in the soil.

I also learned from Conner that some of his fields were being seeded to peas with a crop every two or three years. This short rotation made it more likely the soil would contain higher populations of soil-borne pathogens like Aphanomyces, which can seriously damage the roots of pea plants, causing them to wilt and die prematurely.

In addition, Conner informed me the fields where the pea plants appeared to be unaffected had not been sown to peas for many years, making them less likely to be affected by Aphanomyces.

We sent some samples of the diseased roots in for DNA testing and the lab results confirmed the presence of Aphanomyces.

At this point, there wasn’t anything that Conner could do to stop the root rot infection, which continued to contribute to a poor plant stand and lodging and led to a reduced yield at harvest time.

Conner admitted he was disappointed that we couldn’t fix what went wrong with his pea crop, but he was thankful for a diagnosis so he could take steps to avoid a similar problem in the future.

I told him the first step was to avoid the temptation to shorten up his crop rotations. Longer rotations reduce the chances of diseases like Aphanomyces from occurring, and Conner assured me he would increase the length of his rotation.

I also recommended that he not grow peas again on the affected land for at least six years, which would help break the pest cycle of Aphanomyces.

Kent Gress, PAg, CCA, works for Richardson Pioneer Ltd. in Canora, Sask.

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