Farm to Label: The Pursuit of Exceptional Pea Protein

Of the roughly 11.5 million acres of agricultural crops in Manitoba, less than 1% is dedicated to growing peas—in part because most of those acres just aren’t good enough. It’s not a Manitoba problem. It’s a pea problem. Peas are picky, therefore, good pea farmers must be even pickier.

When it comes to sourcing quality pea protein for AG1, we’re proud to partner with picky farmers like Ron Knight of Hamiota, Manitoba, who’s been farming peas for over 30 years and growing seeds for over 45.

The Pedigree of the Pea

Knight is a purist, carefully and meticulously examining the peas to ensure they’re worth it—specifically, that they’re the perfect size and shape, free from cracks or stains, entirely intact, and contain approximately 22% protein. And that’s just among the peas that make it through previous rounds of vetting, which actually begins when they’re just seeds.

As consumers increasingly seek out products made with ingredients that can be traced back to quality origins, growers face greater pressure to meet high standards. “The big thing with traceability is that you want the end buyer to know exactly what they’re getting,” Knight says. “Our reputation is everything. If we make one mistake, we’re done.”

There are limits to such caution: getting a good harvest of high-quality peas involves more than a little luck. For the 90 days that it takes for the peas to grow to maturity, the farmers are entirely at the mercy of the weather. During the growing season, moisture from rainfall, humidity, or fog can sit atop the Manitoba soil and cause root rot that destroys an entire crop.

Harvest isn’t any easier. “Peas are tricky to grow simply because of the harvest time. You only have a certain number of days to get it done right,” Knight explains. “When the peas are ready, you drop everything and you go.” Here, luck meets preparation. Once the peas are ready to be harvested, moisture levels can drop in a matter of hours, cracking the seed coat and making them good for little more than animal feed. Wet weather at harvest time can damage and dirty the crop, ruining three months of hard work.

And even after the peas are harvested, the thorough work continues.

“We don't let anybody else haul for us.”

“Peas are as close to a pure product as you can get,” says Knight. “They’re non-GMO. They’re nonallergenic. They don’t use any artificial fertilizer. And they don’t change the taste profile of anything. So our job is to maintain that purity.”

From pre-planting to post-harvest, Knight upholds rigorous standards. Growing peas in the same field fewer than 10 years apart can lead to disease that can ruin a crop. So Knight prefers to work with land that’s never grown peas before. “If you start with really disease-free seed and you're on good ground that hasn’t had peas for eight to 10 years, you've got a really good start at a heck of a crop,” says Knight.

Equipment used to harvest the peas must be cleaned meticulously after harvesting any other crops, especially any GMO crop, which makes up the majority of Manitoba’s crop production. After harvest, the peas are stored in a GMO – free grain storage yard and in GMO-free grain bins. To reduce the risk of contamination, Knight’s have not allowed soybeans in their crop rotation.

And, because they can’t control the cleaning standards of commercial haulers, Knight Seeds delivers each of those shipments themselves. “We transport everything in two semi tractors with two trailers on the back,” explains Knight. “We don't let anybody else haul for us.”

It may sound like an extreme process, but for Knight it yields success. “We've been hauling them for over 20 years now,” says Knight, “And we’ve never had a single rejection. We’re proud of that.”

“Relationships are everything. That’s what our business is.”

But just because something has worked for the last 20 years, there are no guarantees that it will keep working. Farming, by its very nature, is about adapting to change, from environmental factors to trends, to technology.

Knight credits his two sons, Jeff and Justin who run the family business with him, for driving innovation at the company. They’ve investigated and integrated machinery that makes farming more efficient, including technology that makes results more quantifiable. All of these innovations may be undetectable to the end user, but are transformative for the farmers that use them.

But the biggest driver of change in the industry, according to Knight, is likely to be the same thing that’s helped him be successful over the last 45 years: relationships. “Relationships are everything. That’s what our business is,” says Knight. “I don't pretend to be the best farmer in the world, but we're honest, and we have good relationships and we have good friends. And that works for us.”

Peas and AG1

Providing premium digestion support, pea protein is just one of the 75+ ingredients in the Daily Health Drink that supports whole body health. We’re proud to work with pea farmers like Ron Knight, one of several high-quality partners who grow premium ingredients in AG1.