Chickpea Diagnostic Team Investigating Plant Health Issue

Chickpea producers are hoping scientists can get to the bottom on a new plant health issue that has been impacting the crop for the last two years.

 

Producers taking part in a recent Sask Pulses Webinar series got an update on what's happening.

 

Sask Pulse Agronomy Manager Sherrilyn Phelps says a Chickpea Diagnostic Team has been developed.

 

"Underway is research at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Saskatoon using the DNA scans to see if they can pull up populations of organisms that may be involved. Soil potassium and electrical conductivity levels are being evaluated by Dr. Jeff Schoenau at the University of Saskatchewan and soil was also sent to Dr. Mario Tenuta at the University of Manitoba to be evaluated for nematodes."

 

She notes in January new project co-funding was announced through SPG and Saskatchewan ADF to investigate the cause of this Chickpea issue and to try to reproduce the symptoms under controlled environments.

 

"To summarize the results to date, there is no one cause of the chickpea health issue, and it is very puzzling, as well as very frustrating. We know through the work of agronomists on field histories that one consistency appears to be the environment. The majority of the fields were dry into late June in both 2019 and 2020. Rain events in late June and early July, as well as higher humidity seem to be factors that occurred just prior to the symptoms developing."

 

In some cases whole fields were affected, while it was just patches in other fields.

 

She notes there seems to be some discussion around soil compaction as that seemed to be the worse hit areas of the field.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.