More Peas, Please?
When the concept of meat being grown in labs first was talked about, my initial reaction was “oh brother, here goes another anti-agriculture consumer fad.” When companies like Beyond Meat started getting media attention, I had the same response. When I saw Beyond Meat products in the grocery store for the first time, I’m pretty sure I shook my head and grumbled about who would pay “premiums” for that mushy substance. Thanks but no thanks, I’ll take my wholesome, real meat every day of the week.
But it wasn’t until recent articles on the latest companies investing in fake meat/alternate protein sources, combined with reading Chase Gingerich’s “Challenges Bring Opportunities” article (check it out here), I realized my biases may be skewing my thinking. Although I may disagree with the fake meat concept, there very well could be an opportunity for growers to diversify.
With the increased demand for plant-based pet foods, sports nutrition, and fake meat, major food companies have taken notice. Cargill, ADM, YUM! Brands (KFC parent company), Hormel Foods, and Aramark all have thrown their hats in the alternate protein ring. According to the September AgriMarketing magazine, “Cargill recently invested an additional $75 million in PURIS, the largest North American producer of pea protein.”
Field peas are one of the most popular alternate protein sources and are the number one ingredient in Beyond Meat and similar products. Some analysts are even projecting that the global pea protein market will triple to $300 million by 2025.
Yellow peas, a nitrogen-fixing legume, are considered a spring annual in the Upper Midwest with a relatively short maturity of 95-100 days. This pulse crop fares best in dry or semi-arid conditions (55-65°F) and prefers light sandy loams to heavy clays (although good drainage is an absolute must). They are planted in 6″-7.5″ rows with about 9 plants per sq ft and planting populations as high as 600,000 seeds/acre.
Because peas can tolerate being planted early on (February-March), some growers will follow the pea harvest with short maturity soybeans in July.
When worked into the crop rotation, growers have noticed reduced insect pressure and disease, along with improved soil health. One Minnesota grower even claims he sees a 5-10% yield bump in the next crop in rotation.
However, they present their own set of challenges and certainly aren’t “the” solution. Veteran pea growers comment they require more management and forward-thinking, especially when it comes to harvest and retaining pea quality. Some even go as far as to say it’s a hit or miss crop.
So what’s the feasibility in Iowa? Can field peas even be entertained as a profitable way to diversify? After more research, PURIS (Beyond Meat’s biggest supplier), actually has a plant in Oskaloosa, Iowa (as well as Turtle Lake, WI, and Dawson, MN). Renae Larson, PURIS marketing manager commented, “PURIS has worked with growers in Southern Iowa since the inception of the Oskaloosa plant (1986). As more Iowa farmers are turning towards alternative crop options to diversify their rotations and help with soil health, the number of farmers around the Iowa PURIS plant is growing. PURIS non-GMO yellow field pea varieties have been hand-selected by a team of PURIS breeders over decades to adapt to various growing conditions.”
Although global pea prices have decreased the past five years, PURIS contracts yellow field peas at a higher price than the US market. Because PURIS operates a closed-loop system from seed to raw product to finished food ingredients, the internal demand allows them to offer growers a competitive fixed price. PURIS growers are on a personalized, total production contract.
Although Iowa State doesn’t have any recent studies on the feasibility/productivity of field peas in Iowa, there was some research done in the mid-2000s. Iowa State’s Jim Fawcett (retired field agronomist) and Tom Miller (swine specialist) did some research on field peas as an alternative to soybean meal when there was a threat of Asian rust in our area (they later found out field peas are also sensitive to Asian rust). According to Tom Miller, “the first year we raised field peas they were planted the end of February and we had excellent yields. The next 5 years of research we struggled to get acceptable yields. We seemed to have a lot of powdery mildew problems. We had excellent results with the field pea inclusion in swine rations.” Through their research, they saw no decrease in swine performance at 30% field pea inclusion; plus there was an economic advantage as well.
“Over time, I think field peas could be adapted to our climate with enough plant breeding to improve disease resistance,” said Tom.
Who knows if this trend is here to stay, but in the spirit of “opportunities are abundant with every challenge”, yellow field peas as a prospective crop makes for some interesting food for thought.
Pea Facts
- Peas are processed into pea flour (80% protein), then are shipped to the PURIS facility in Turtle Lake, Wisconsin. The pea flour is used as a raw material for the pea protein isolate process where the flour is separated into starch, fiber, and protein.
- Montana & North Dakota are the biggest pea producers: 300,000 – 600,000 acres.
- 856,000 U.S. planted acres in 2018 (expected to surge in 2019).
SOURCES:
Agri Marketing , Sept. 2019, p. 11.
Sango, Renata. “Rising Demand for Plant Protein Feeds Growth of the Humble Pea.” MPR News, 2 May 2019, https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/05/02/rising-demand-for-plant-protein-feeds-growth-of-pea.
Fawcitt, Jim. “Double Cropping Field Peas Offer Economic Sustainability for Midwest Swine Producers.” SARE Grant Management System, https://projects.sare.org/sare_project/lnc05-257/?ar=2009.
“Cargill Raises Bet on Peas.” The Brock Report, 30 Aug. 2019, p. 5.