Glyphosate residue on lentils

The low European tolerance for glyphosate residue on lentils could make marketing the crop more difficult if glyphosate has been used in a pre-harvest application. Saskatchewan Pulse Growers and Pulse Canada have put together a fact sheet to answer some of the most common questions on the issue. They say that even if a producer followed label recommendations for pre-harvest glyphosate use on lentil crops, the glyphosate residues are likely over the European Maximum Residue Limit or MRL of 0.1 parts per million. However, the MRL should be less than the 4 ppm allowed in Canada. Testing for glyphosate residue costs about $500 a sample and it takes about two weeks to get the results. According to Saskatchewan Pulse Growers and Pulse Canada, lentil buyers will need to know if pre-harvest glyphosate was used so they can determine if the lentils can be marketed in Europe. Buyers may be asking growers to sign a declaration regarding the use of glyphosate or other crop protection products. Hopefully, the EU will increase its MRL to be in line with Canada and the U.S., but there are no guarantees and at best that process is likely to take 12 months or more. There’s no issue with the pre-seeding use of glyphosate, but for pre-harvest application, producers should go with Reglone if they want the option of marketing into Europe.

I’m Kevin Hursh.