Todd Scholz is vice president of research and member services for USA Pulses, which until last year was known as the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council. This year Todd will retire after 26 years with the organization. He joins us today to talk about the industry’s work in getting more crop protection tools labeled for pulse crop growers. USA Pulses is a nonprofit organization that has been pushing for pulses in our food system since 1965. Their work supports over 5,000 growers, processors, and exporters across the US, working from field to fork to strengthen the industry and highlight the value of pulses worldwide. Todd’s job as vice president for research and member services is to take research needs from producers/industry and try to marry it with researchers and funding to answer the need to be able to raise the crop. Today, Todd discusses USA Pulse’s research priorities, their involvement with the IR-4 program and that program’s importance for pulse crop growers, global harmonization of maximum residue limits and some reflections from his 26 years in his role.

“ There's an organization called IR-4. It was created in the sixties, and its purpose was to provide the link for specialty crops to get access to pesticides. Generally, when a registrant or a pesticide company wants to label a pesticide, they look for easy returns. So that's corn, soybeans, maybe wheat and other major crops. And so the specialty crops get ignored. So the IR-4 was organized and formed and its history is so amazing. It started with one guy, a desk, and maybe a secretary. And now it's about a $15 million program.” - Todd Scholz

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Todd Scholz, vice president of research and member services for USA Pulses
• Explore the industry’s work in getting more crop protection tools labeled for pulse crop growers.
• Discover the IR-4 Program and its importance for pulse crop growers

Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Today’s episode goes behind the scenes of pulse crop disease diagnostics with Dr. Uta McKelvy, Dr. Raissa Moura and Erin Gunnink Troth. They explain how Montana State University’s Regional Pulse Crop Diagnostic Laboratory provides post-harvest seed testing for replanting and export phytosanitary needs (including an Ascochyta-plus fungal screen and regulated nematode tests). Dr. McKelvy contrasts this with the Schutter Lab’s in-season plant health diagnostics for crops and other plant-related services, outlining how samples are evaluated and how environmental conditions influence what diseases are seen.

"Think of the diagnostic labs: Schutter and the Regional Pulse Diagnostic Lab as just resources that are available to you that you should take advantage of. Why guessing and wondering if you could know, right? I want to point out from the Schutter side of view, we're not just sending you a report that says you have this - good luck. Every report includes information on the disease and the pathogen, and emphasizes management recommendations.” - Uta McKelvy, Ph.D.

Resources:

Schutter Diagnostic Lab: https://www.montana.edu/extension/diagnostics/

Regional Pulse Crop Diagnostic Lab: https://plantsciences.montana.edu/pulsecropdiagnosticlab/

Annual Report: https://www.montana.edu/extension/diagnostics/annual-report.html

MSU Ag and Urban Alerts: https://www.montana.edu/extension/ipm/alerts/

Extension Plant Pathology website: https://www.montana.edu/extension/plantpath/resources/

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

00:00 Why Guess When You Can Know

01:46 Meet the Pulse Lab Team

02:38 How the Pulse Lab Started

06:39 Funding and Lab Support

07:42 Seed Tests and Export Nematodes

12:15 Sampling and Disease Trends

16:40 What to Do With Results

17:55 Schutter Lab Overview

22:36 How Plant Diagnosis Works

29:09 Trends and What They See

33:45 Final Takeaways and Resources

38:13 Wrap Up and Next Episode Teaser

Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Shannah Peterson has been a part of the procurement team at Anchor Ingredients for the past six years. She also works with their sustainability and regenerative programs. On today’s episode, Peterson discusses the demand drivers for pulses for pet food markets, how trends like sustainability and regenerative farming practices impact pet food buying decisions, some important opportunities to be aware of for pulse producers, and what she’s watching from the pet food market in 2026. She shares great insight as someone who is a part of purchasing and sales decisions of pulses almost daily.

“ There's been this humanization of pet food where people really care the quality of pet food that their dogs and animals are consuming the same as humans. So one thing we've seen is as this trend in regenerative agriculture has hit the food space, it's also hit the pet food space. Where a lot of these brands are like we want to be able to source this product sustainably. We want to source it from regenerative farms. So we actually run a regenerative program where we offer regenerative farmers a premium for these pulses being grown regeneratively on their farm. And that's actually through our traceability platforms being carried all the way to our customers.” - Shannah Peterson

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Shannah Peterson, a member of the procurement team at Anchor Ingredients
• Explore the use of pulses in the pet food industry and the recent impact of consumer concerns
• Discover regenerative and carbon programs used by Anchor Ingredients to create premiums for producers

Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Dr. Chelsea Didinger is the founder of the online platform "A Legume A Day.” Didinger uses her PhD in nutrition to share her passion for the benefits of beans and legumes. She highlights not just their health advantages but also their role in sustainable agriculture through her online platform and presence. In this episode today, she discusses the global trends in pulse consumption, the nutritional benefits that make them a perfect food, and practical ways to incorporate more pulses into everyday meals.

“ I want people to know that it doesn't have to be hard. Again, you could sometimes make those swaps, like have a pulse based pasta or sometimes add chickpea flour to your baking, or pick the dishes that you really like and just add pulses to that, or crisp up some chickpeas, crisp up some lentils, and just sprinkle those on. It doesn't have to be hard. There are canned products. You can cook from dry. Whatever fits into your schedule and works realistically, you don't want to set this goal that's unattainable. So I think that's a good place to start.” - Dr. Chelsea Didinger

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

1. Meet Dr. Chelsea Didinger, the founder of "A Legume A Day” who uses her PhD in nutrition to share her passion for the benefits of beans and legumes
2. Explore why Didinger feels pulses are the “perfect food” and the many different uses she proposes that consumers might not initially consider to incorporate pulses into their diets
3. Discover bonus benefits to pulses including protein, fiber, complex carbohydrates, and additional phytonutrients and phytochemicals

Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Dr. Charles Geddes is a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada based out of Lethbridge, Alberta. His research program focuses primarily on herbicide resistant weeds, where he looks at the discovery of new types of herbicide resistance, characterizing those types of resistance, and then monitoring where resistance is occurring across the Canadian prairies. In this episode, he shares about the growing incidences of resistance across the Canadian Prairie, the types of resistance, why resistance in weeds like kochia is spreading so fast, and what the research is telling us about trying to reverse this troubling pattern.

“About 70% of the fields that are annual crop production in the region have at least one type of herbicide resistance present. So group one and two resistance in wild oat, I mean both the in-crop options that we have in small grain cereals, for example. But in kochia, we have resistance, so widespread resistance to group two to the point it's not even worth testing for. Glyphosate resistance is in about 75% of the samples that we test. We then have resistance to auxin mimics, which would be group fours, primarily Fluroxypyr and Dicamba. And more recently we've identified group 14 resistance or PPO inhibitor resistance.” - Dr. Charles Geddes

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

1. Dr. Charles Geddes is a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
2. Understand the growing incidence of herbicide resistance across the Canadian Prairie and what the research suggests needs to happen to resist this concerning trend
3. Explore different options for weed management that can be used in conjunction with herbicide use such as competitive planting techniques
4. Learn more at the Prairie Weed Monitoring Network Website

Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Marlene Boersch is the co-founder of Mercantile Consulting Venture based in Winnipeg, Canada. She founded the company about 22 years ago after spending over 20 years as a trader focused on Canadian pulse trading. Marlene and her team concentrate on providing market intelligence to farmers and grower associations for not only pulses, but also canola, wheat, oats and corn.

Boersch shares about the current supply and demand dynamics for peas, chickpeas and lentils around the world and reflects on what she’s watching in these markets in 2026. We discuss the evolution of these markets over the year, the current situation after the 2025 crop, new opportunities and challenges ahead for global demand, and what developing stories she’s keeping a close eye on because of their potential to move the markets.

“ I think that a huge milestone was entering the bulk markets. We are still talking agricultural markets, so price sensitivity is extremely important.” - Marlene Boersch

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

1. Meet Marlene Boersch is the co-founder of Mercantile Consulting Venture based in Winnipeg, Canada
2. Understand the evolution of the pulse crop market from the perspective of a seasoned trader and market analyst
3. Explore what Marlene expects the markets to provide for pulse growers in 2026

Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Dr. Clifford Hall is a professor in the dairy and food science department at South Dakota State University. He also oversees research on pulse quality and utilization of pulses in food systems. Over the years, Dr. Hall has mentored several students completing research on peas, lentils, and chickpeas. These projects range from including pulses in extruded snacks to using aquafaba as an egg replacer to looking at the functional properties of pulse flours and other pulse fortified products. Dr. Hall has also overseen the annual U.S. Pulse Quality Survey since 2014. He shares how this information is used by the industry, what trends he is seeing in food applications for pulse crops, and where pulses fit into the nutrient density conversation.

“  If you are someone that looks at I want to sell the flour, I'm likely going to go to the functionality test, the water absorption index that tells you how much water the pulse can absorb. And that would be important if you want to make, say a gluten-free cookie or you want to put it in a wheat bread. So I think those are really kind of the ones that a lot of times the most interest is in the protein and then some of these functional properties.” - Dr Cliff Hall

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Dr. Clifford Hall, a professor in the dairy and food science department at South Dakota State University
• Discover possible new applications for pulse crops as a food additive and the benefits they offer processors
• Explore the data illustrated in the annual U.S. Pulse Quality Survey and how this information can be used in the pulse crop industry

Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Greg Stamp is the seed sales manager at Stamp Seeds, which he runs with his two brothers, Matthew and Nathan. Stamp Seeds grows and processes retail pedigreed seed for about 60 different crops based out of Enchant, Alberta. Included in that long list of crops are some pulses like peas, chickpeas, lentils, and our subject for today’s episode, faba beans. Greg shares all things faba beans including markets, varieties, agronomic practices, pest and disease considerations, harvesting and more.

“ The market I think where there's some value is domestic. It's the people that are fractionating and it's the trend, you know, what's the next new hot protein? Past peas, it's faba beans… They're higher protein than peas and so that's why they want to use them. And then they have a different taste and flavor profile and fractionation. So that's why they're going that way. And so you're going to see more and more of them used in food products as time goes on.” - Greg Stamp

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Greg Stamp, the seed sales manager at Stamp Seeds
• Discover all things faba beans including markets, varieties, agronomic practices and more.
• Explore unique techniques for pest management of faba beans
• Listen to referenced guest Chuck Penner discuss drivers of supply and demand for pulse crops
• Review integrated pest management with Dr. Hector Carcamo from a previous episode
• Visit Stampseeds.com to learn more about faba beans

Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.