Lincoln, Neb. – Nebraska dry pea growers received some good news in November when the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) updated and expanded revenue protection for Nebraska spring smooth green or yellow dry peas.
“We recently learned that after several years, Nebraska growers are now eligible for revenue-based crop insurance for their dry peas,” said Todd Scholz, vice president of research and member services for the USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council.
The expansion of the USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) will begin with the 2024 crop year in selected counties in five states, including Nebraska. “It’s a pretty big deal,” Scholz said. “Producers will have yield protection and revenue certainty.”
Scholz added that getting the extension took a lot of work and cooperation from growers to processors and University of Nebraska-Lincoln extension specialists. The groups gathered information on peas, lentils and chickpeas in Nebraska. The USDA needed 10-15 years of yield information on chickpeas, which came from processors and UNL.
Scholz delivered the news at the 2023 Nebraska Pulse Crops Conference hosted by Nebraska Extension on 20 November in Bridgeport. He also spoke with growers about some of the projects the USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council is working on to improve the marketplace for pulse growers.
The USDA Dietary Guidelines Committee is considering changes to the plate (guidelines) for 2025. Something that hasn’t been done since 2010. The committee has a coalition called the Coalition for the Advancement of Pulses, which is working to increase the dietary guidelines from 1.5 cups per week to 3 cups of pulses. Scholz said the original guideline was 3 cups, but that was changed. “There was no scientific evidence to go any lower. They (USDA) just said nobody eats legumes, so it doesn’t matter.”
The Coalition has funded scientific studies that have found that if you increase the allocation of pulses, you increase the nutrients of iron and fibre. “This is important, not because people personally follow the guidelines, but because the dietary guidelines are the basis for all sorts of government nutrition programs and health advice from various health organisations.” The increase would also require more pulse crops to be grown.
The 2023 Nebraska Pulse Crops Conference in November focused on field peas, chickpeas, black-eyed peas and other pulses. The conference included sessions on pea agronomy and breeding, soil nutrient management, disease, human food nutrition and quality, trade, crop insurance and policy.
