Replacing Fallow with Pulses in North Central Montana

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 HansenThis Week on Growing Pulse Crops:Meet Todd Hansen, a fourth generation pulse crop farmer in Gildford, MontanaExplore what led Hansen to become an avid pulse grower on his family’s operation and how he has worked them into his rotationsDiscover 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.