Page 10 - RealDirtENG2020

Pulses31
Career Pro le
Pulse Farmers
Hailey and Cale Jeffries
High school sweethearts Hailey and Cale Jeffries are farmers and entrepreneurs. Together, they’re behind the Prairie Fava business.
In 2015, they moved home to Glenboro, Manitoba, so Cale could take over his fth-generation family seed farm, Jeffries Seeds. Hailey left behind a fast- paced corporate sales and marketing job, and was unsure how to apply that spirit to their new life.
After Hailey’s mother was diagnosed with cancer, she found a renewed interest in health and healthy food in particular. With the family seed business, and Hailey’s marketing know-how, she saw
the perfect opportunity to address the growing consumer demand for plant-based proteins. In 2015, they established Prairie Fava and began processing fava beans two years later.
Fava beans are very neutral tasting, making them a versatile option to enhance the protein and bre content of everyday foods without adversely affecting the taste, colour or aroma. Fava our is also a Canadian-grown, higher protein alternative for gluten-free our substitutes.
They now ship whole and split beans, as well as our, across North America and to Japan, Vietnam and Belgium. Prairie Fava recently received the Start-Up of the Year Award at the 2019 Manitoba Chambers of Commerce Business Awards.
Pulses are the dry, edible seeds of certain plants in the legume family. Major pulse crops grown in Canada include chickpeas, lentils, dry or eld peas, faba beans, and dry beans. Most pulse crops are grown in Western Canada, but farmers in Ontario and parts of Québec are signi cant growers of dry beans, including navy beans, black beans, red kidney, white kidney, cranberry, and adzuki beans.
Pulse crops are a low-fat, high- bre protein powerhouse with high levels of minerals like iron, zinc, and phosphorus, as well as potassium, folate, and other B-vitamins. They’ve also been found to help lower bad types of cholesterol, and to help maintain healthy blood sugar levels.
Pulses are also a key part of sustainable food production. They are a “nitrogen- xing crop”—meaning that they have the potential to work with soil bacteria to draw nitrogen from the air and store it, so farmers can reduce the amount of nitrogen fertilizer applied to their eld. After harvest, pulses leave behind nitrogen-rich crop residue, which can further reduce the amount of fertilizer that farmers need to apply for the next crop too.
More than 85 per cent of Canada’s pulse crops are exported annually32, and they end up in 125 different countries, with China being the largest buyer of Canadian peas33.
QUICK
FACT
Over 50 per cent of all lentils traded in the world come from Saskatchewan elds34.
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The Real Dirt on Farming
Ontario Bean Growers