History of the USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council

The history of the USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council, Inc. (USADPLC) stretches back to 1949 when the dry pea processors in Washington and Idaho formed the Pacific Northwest Dry Pea Processors Association to enhance trade within the industry.

In the early 1960s, a small group of farmers in eastern Washington and northern Idaho formed the Idaho and Washington Pea and Lentil Growers Association and began discussing the need to fund market development, research and educational programming. The growers decided to pursue a levy on every pound of dry peas, lentils and chickpeas sold in the commercial market. The state legislatures in Idaho and Washington approved the establishment of the Idaho Pea & Lentil Commission and the Washington Dry Pea & Lentil Commission July 1, 1965. The ID/WA commissions and grower association hired Harold Blain to serve as their joint administrator. They established an office (a small trailer) on the state line between Moscow, Idaho and Pullman, Washington.

Recognizing the need to pool their financial resources to meet the growing needs of the industry, the Pacific Northwest Dry Pea Processors Association moved its office from Spokane, Washington, in 1969 to the state line office. A year later in 1970, the USADPLC was formed, bringing together the WA and ID pea and lentil growers and the processors and exporters association into one national organization charged with managing the research, marketing and government affairs programming of the dry pea, lentil and chickpea industry in the United States. Harold Blain served as the executive director of the USADPLC and the dry pea and lentil industry for 29 years until his retirement January 1, 1995. Tim D. McGreevy came to the helm and is the current executive director of the USADPLC.

In the early 1990s, acreage of dry peas and lentils in North Dakota began to increase. A small group of legume producers formed the North Dakota Dry Pea & Lentil Association (NDDPLA) in the mid-1990s. In the winter of 1997, the NDDPLA went to the state legislature and established a grower funded check-off board. The North Dakota Dry Pea & Lentil Council (NDDPLC) began operations July 1, 1997 and became a full member of the USADPLC in 1998.

Pea and lentil grower associations from South Dakota and Montana passed grower check-off boards in 2005.