Aaron Flansburg is a fifth generation farmer from Palouse, Washington. In this arid, hilly eastern part of the state, Aarong grows dryland crops like wheat, barley, canola, peas, lentils, chickpeas and some alfalfa. Aaron grew up on the farm, in fact he remembers getting his start in operating farm equipment by driving the swather when he was 12. In recent years, Aaron has brought the swather back to the operation to help him harvest the organic pulse crops he has started adding to his conventional operation.

In today’s episode, Aaron shares this journey of growing pulses organically, how his views have changed on practices like tillage, the value of finding niche markets, growing pardina lentils, and much much more.

"Looking at the balance sheets last year, the stuff that I did on the organic ground was far and away the most profitable…You know, it's taken a lot of effort. It's been a struggle. It's been an investment of time and new (to me) machinery to get it to the point where I feel like I have what I need to do it, and there's always a few items on the wish list. But my hope is that this system can kind of be proven to work and be able to replicate it on other farms in the area.” - Aaron Flansburg

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Aaron Flansburg, fifth generation farmer from Palouse, Washington.
• Explore Flansburg’s journey of growing pulses organically and how his views have evolved
• Discover the value of finding niche markets and value-added products that can generate more profit per acre

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

Dr. Morgan Chamberlin is a nutrition scientist and registered dietician who is currently a research scientist at Billings Clinic in Montana. Prior to that she worked as a Nutrition Researcher and Project Manager at Montana State University where she earned her Ph.D. in Nutrition and Exercise Sciences. While at Montana State University she worked extensively with pulses and how they impact metabolic health. In this episode, she shares her research on lentils and their findings about how they can improve cholesterol, blood sugar, and inflammation. She goes on to discuss how to measure metabolic health and her thoughts on how pulses can be part of a healthy diet helping to reduce disease risk.

“ So now we know we can give people those doses of lentils. We can see the improvements to health, and they're not having any sort of gastrointestinal distress. Great things learned. ” - Dr. Morgan Chamberlin

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Dr. Morgan Chamberlin, a nutrition scientist and registered dietician who is currently a research scientist at Billings Clinic in Montana.
• Discover the positive health implications of pulse crops when incorporated into a balanced diet
• Explore different strategies for consumers to incorporate more pulses into their daily diet

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

Todd Hansen is a fourth generation farmer in Gildford, Montana. He’s been growing pulses since the 90s with a current rotation that includes winter wheat, spring wheat, durum, barley, yellow peas, chickpeas, lentils, canola, and mustard. Over the past several years, he has transitioned from a traditional 50-50 winter wheat/fallow system to a more diversified 75-25 winter wheat, lentil, and oilseed rotation. Hansen is a member of the Montana Pulse Crop Committee and has served on the boards of the Montana Grain Growers Association, the Montana Grain Fund, the National Association of Rural Communities, and the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station. In this episode, he shares some lessons he has learned growing pulses over the years, his challenges with chickpeas and how he’s made lentils work in his rotation despite pressure from weeds, pests and disease.

“ I feel like it is not my farm. It is either my great-grandfather's or my great-grandkids', and I am just here to be a caretaker for a little while and hope to God that I pass it on in at least as good a shape, if not better shape, than how I found it when it was passed to me. I just feel like a placeholder.” - Todd Hansen

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

• Meet Todd Hansen, a fourth generation pulse crop farmer in Gildford, Montana
• Explore what led Hansen to become an avid pulse grower on his family’s operation and how he has worked them into his rotations
• Discover how Hansen sees the future market of pulses and what producers can do to capture it

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