Wheatland Conservation's annual field day yesterday brought news of a new lentil study.

The study expands research into crop management options to help improve a grower's bottom line.

One of the trials is evaluating crop input options for lentils.

Shannon Chant, a Regional Crop Specialist with Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Agriculture, explains the angle of the study.

"For this study we're looking at seeing if some of the research that Steve Shirtliffe has done up at the U of S applies in the area. He had found that it's good to increase lentil seeding rates in all classes in weedy conditions. For small red lentils, it can be important. It can also increase yield fairly consistently," she said.

The lentil input study compares various rates of seeding.

"This project looked at 3 seeding rates on small red and large red lentils. The small reds were CDC Maxim, the large reds were CDC KR2. The seeding rates were 130 seeds/ m2 - the full rate, 190 seeds/ m2 - 1.5 times the seeding rate, and 260 seeds/ m2 - double the seeding rate." the Regional Crop Specialist says.

Chant notes so far everything looks fairly similar but it can be difficult to see yield differences, which is why it will be interesting to see the economical analysis at the end.

The Ministry of Agriculture is also studying the impact of different inoculates and fungicide applications.