WHY GROW BEANS

Why grow winter beans?

Winter Beans are the leading Autumn break crop option – for reliability
The decision process in choosing a break crop is now increasingly more complex. Growers now need to consider crop reliability when making this decision and balance against expected returns for other crops such as OSR which may not survive after the winter period due to establishment and pest issues. The winter bean crop can be established with a range of methods to suit the situation and has robust early growth which can cope with a range of temperature and moisture related conditions.

Winter beans are a valued break in a rotation as they help to enhance soil structure and health
The deep fibrous rooting system of beans helps to break down the more difficult soil structures where other crops cannot.

Winter Beans are a low cost crop to establish
Variable costs are considerably less than those of oilseed rape, a particularly important factor when commodity prices are under pressure (see table).
WINTER BEANS £ OILSEED RAPE £ WHEAT £
SEED 98 56 63
FERTILISER 54 194 211
HERBICIDES 65 113 103
FUNGICIDES 50 80 121
INSECTICIDES 8 8 8
OTHER 10 33 24
TOTAL 285 484 530

Source: John Nix 2020 Edition

A break from cereal crops will help offer both improved cultural control opportunities and the option to use alternative chemistry 

Winter beans can be grown and harvested with existing equipment, without compromising workloads. The later, more flexible drilling window for winter beans allows at least one flush of black-grass to be sprayed off before the crop is drilled. As the cost of black-grass control in cereal crops now exceeds £100/ha on many farms, the ability of winter beans to keep weeds at low levels is becoming increasingly important. There is a good range of pre- and post-emergence herbicides available for use on beans for control of broad-leaved weeds and grass weeds.

The demand for home grown protein consumption, export markets and added value markets remain key 

In recent years, the demand for export quality beans has exceeded supply. Additionally demand from feed protein markets has seen prices provide good returns on farm and offer excellent potential for future demand. Additional opportunities into the Aquaculture market and the plant protein sector will help maintain this demand in the future.


Winter beans don't require nitrogen fertiliser and will increase yields of subsequent crops

Winter beans produce root nodules, thereby fixing atmospheric nitrogen and avoiding the need for nitrogen fertilisation. They do not result in significant levels of nitrous oxide emissions as other crops do. This makes beans ideally suited for use in the rotation to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with agricultural activities. Furthermore, a bean crop will result in 20-60kg/ha residual nitrogen that can be used by the subsequent crop. Studies suggest that wheat following winter beans can yield 0.84t/ha more than wheat following oilseed rape. Combined with the reduced input costs of fertiliser this increase can contribute up to £126/ha gross margin per hectare (given a wheat price of £150/t). In addition, the deep rooting nature of beans helps to develop a more open soil structure.


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