lentils and beans

Books worth cooking from, part 2: My Thali

First We Eat: How a meal can centre around a starch, rather than a protein surrounded by sides

You’ll recall that in my previous column, I posed the question of how many cookbooks a home cook really needs, and which new ones are worth buying or borrowing. Part of my research for this month’s column was to peruse the shortlist of nominees for the 2024 Taste Canada book awards. Several books appealed, but […] Read more

Green lentils. (Savany/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Green lentils show strength, reds lag

Green lentil sales limited as farmers bullish

MarketsFarm — Green lentil bids in Western Canada are trading at their highest levels of the past year, with solid new-crop pricing opportunities already becoming available. Spot bids for large green lentils can currently be found in the 60 to 72 cents/lb. area, according to Prairie Ag Hotwire data, with new-crop contracts hitting 50 cents […] Read more


Lentils. (Seb_ra/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Lentils shift in narrow range

Farmers seen sitting on product for now

MarketsFarm — Price movement for most western Canadian lentils held narrowly rangebound for the week ended Monday. Prairie Ag Hotwire reported most prices remained one cent per pound of unchanged. To Marcos Mosnaim of Export Packers, there were two central reasons for such sparse movement in lentils. “On one side… I will say the lack […] Read more



In certain rows, Cory’s lentil plants were stunted and the leaves of those plants were turning yellow and shriveling. Some plants in the affected rows were already dead.

Crop advisor casebook: Why are rows of these lentils yellowing and stunted?

A Crop Advisor's Solution from the April 23, 2019 issue of Grainews

Cory owns a 4,000-acre grain farm near Cupar, Sask. His crop rotation consists of lentils, wheat, durum and canola. It was around the middle of June when I received a call from Cory, who was concerned about his lentil crop after he noticed that in certain rows the plants were stunted and the leaves of […] Read more

Austen checked the plants for root rot in all areas of the field. All plant roots were healthy, which allowed me to rule out root rot. Because the plants were asymptomatic, Austen also struck rhizoctonia off the list.

Crop advisor casebook: A thin lentil crop due to seeding problems?

A Crop Advisor's Solution from the February 12, 2019 issue of Grainews

Colin farms 6,000 acres of canola, lentils, durum and canaryseed south of Regina, Sask. He called me at the beginning of June about his poor lentil stand. He said the stand looked less vigorous than it should. He thought the problem might be related to seeding. “I must’ve messed up during seeding. Maybe I put […] Read more


Some plants had more affected leaves than others, however, there was no pattern to the affected plants or the location of the injured leaves on those plants. For example, the top leaves were affected on some plants, while the middle leaves of others were exhibiting symptoms.

Crop Advisor’s Casebook: What’s stressing these lentils?

A Crop Advisor's Solution from the August 29, 2017 issue of Grainews

“I have never seen anything like it in 15 years of growing lentils,” Vaughn, a southern Saskatchewan producer, told me after he discovered yellowing, unhealthy-looking lentil plants in his field the week of June 23, 2016. Our office had already received several calls from Assiniboia-area growers with similar concerns. Producers had also dropped off samples […] Read more

Got winter blues? Try sprouting some greens

Got winter blues? Try sprouting some greens

Sprouts are delicious and packed with nutrition and only take a few days to grow

My green thumb gets a little twitchy in wintertime and there’s only one cure. I start a little garden on the windowsill, planting to plate in just five days. Yes, I am speaking of sprouts. Delicious, nutritious and green. It is well documented that sprouts are more nutritious than the seeds themselves and, in some […] Read more


CDC Greenwater was first released in 2014 and is showing strong yield potential.

The newest in pulses

Varieties to watch for in coming years

Pulse breeders at the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre (CDC) are constantly working on developing new varieties with improved yield, disease and weed resistance and tolerance, and other desirable attributes. They are also constantly working on getting these new varieties tested and into the hands of Saskatchewan growers as soon as they are ready. […] Read more

lentils

Consider timing when choosing desiccants for lentils

Depending on what you're trying to achieve, you do have choices

Whether you’re an old hand at growing lentils, or relatively inexperienced, it’s worth brushing up on a few harvest tips before the combines start rolling. Harvest success begins before seeding. It’s best to pick land that’s fairly level and stone-free, says Dale Risula, provincial specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture in Regina. “Rolling your land is a […] Read more