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.