5 Minutes With... John McArthur, Managing Director of McArthur Agriculture

The inaugural edition of The Future of Food Production, which launches on 19 October 2022, features a commodities focus on pulses. The ongoing climate crisis highlights more than ever before the urgency to diversify our agri-food systems to more climate-smart ways of producing our food, strengthening supply chains, and improving diets, especially for family farmers and low-income consumers in vulnerable dry regions. Food security is also a current major concern. Protein malnutrition, in particular, must be overcome as a matter of urgency. At the same time, food manufacturers are increasingly interested in proteins from plant sources. Hence, pulse crops could be exploited as sustainable, climate change resistant and high-quality protein sources.

Here, John McArthur, Managing Director of McArthur Agriculture, reveals why we should be putting more emphasis on this humble staple.

What is your own background in the pulses sector?

I am the Managing Director of agricultural post-harvest technology company McArthur Agriculture. The business specializes in the design, installation and maintenance of combinable crop processing and storage systems for farmers and commercial operators in the UK and Ireland.

We are currently developing a processing system for homegrown pulses that will help to replace imported soybean meal currently used in diets across several livestock sectors. Our processing system will play a key role in reducing environmental destruction associated with South American soybean production and help to drive the environmental benefits of including more pulses in UK arable rotations.

What agricultural innovations improve the efficiency and effectiveness of pulse production?

Research around driving improvement in UK pulse production has been limited by the size of the market for growing pulses. For example, the market for beans in the UK has been uncertain for many years. Farmers will grow beans but are concerned they will not find a customer if they miss the human consumption market. Animal feed processors will include beans in their feeds but do not feel the supply from growers is dependable.

Beans are an environmentally beneficial substitute to imported soybean meal and the economics stack up. Research such as the Green Pig Project (SRUC, 2008-2012) demonstrated this in pig diets. Awareness needs to be raised of the opportunities across the livestock industry.

Livestock farmers can reduce their businesses environmental impact and add value to their produce by using feed that does not contain soybean meal and which instead contains homegrown pulses, that they can process themselves.

Greater demand for beans and increased inclusion in rotations will revitalize the market for UK pulse production. The research and investment will follow to improve yields and enhance resilience.

How are you seeing food processors innovate in the development of healthier processed pulse foods?

Growing the home market for human consumption of pulses is important. Companies such as Hodmedod’s are doing a great job in raising the profile of pulses, however the market lacks scale and requires a significant change in consumer habits and behavior.

The environmental benefits of pulses, including the elimination of synthetic fertilizers, greater biodiversity and improved soil microbiome, can only be realized if pulse production is more broadly adopted in arable rotations and used to feed livestock.

What about developments in logistics, processing, and marketing of pulses?

Whether talking food or feed, I believe that supply chains need to be shortened. We need to see processing happening on or much closer to the farm.

This will strengthen the relationship between farm businesses, the wider rural community and with consumers.

Consumers will see that they can buy environmentally friendly, locally produced and processed products via a shorter and more resilient supply chain.

Pulses receive relatively little attention compared to other agri-products with relatively low return. Why do you think this is?

Pulses are a low input crop, rotations that include pulses have lower synthetic fertilizer requirements and lower agrochemical use. There is not the same commercial opportunity for businesses that guide farmers' agronomic decisions when pulses are included within a rotation. Add to this, published gross margins do not capture the value of nitrogen fixed by pulses for the subsequent crop, making the return on investment look poor on paper. Finally, there is the concern about finding a reliable market for the crop.

All this results in little attention. The reality is that pulses offer a huge opportunity to reduce carbon emissions in UK agriculture while also displacing environmentally destructive imported proteins like soybean meal. This win-win opportunity is passing us by.

How important are subsidies to lower costs of production?  

Subsidies have long been a fundamental pillar of UK agriculture but the direction of travel is changing. McArthur Agriculture’s focus is on helping farmers to add value to their combinable crops post-harvest, enabling them to find commercial solutions to strengthen their farming business at the same time as delivering positive environmental returns.

‍You can read more about developments in pulses in the first edition of The Future of Food Production magazine, launching on 19 October. The Future of Food Production magazine is a sister title to Protein Production Technology International, which launches on 26 October