Pulse Acreage Pt 1
I’m Bob Larson. Pulses are thriving here in the Pacific Northwest … and beyond in recent years. That’s because demand for peas, lentils, chickpeas and beans continues to grow at a steady pace.
Tim McGreevy, CEO of the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council, says peas and lentils have been grown in Eastern Washington for a long time, but don’t cover the acreage they once did …
McGREEVY … “We still grow a fair amount of lentils here in the Pacific Northwest. We’re not the number one lentil producers like we were in, you know, the sixties, seventies, eighties and nineties. There’s a lot more lentils now being grown Montana and North Dakota.”
But, McGreevy says lentils are still a significant crop here …
McGREEVY … “We’re consistently at that couple-hundred-thousand-acre range here in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho.”
McGreevy says pulse crop acreage in the Pacific Northwest today is probably five time what it was 30 years ago …
McGREEVY … “The crop that’s really, probably taken off the most in terms of the pulses is actually chickpeas. The chickpea acreage has really expanded significantly, you know, since the early two-thousands. And, in Eastern Washington, this is the number one chickpea producer in the country.”
Tune in tomorrow for more on our pulse crops and why they’ve become such a sought-after commodity.
