A recent episode of the Tillage Edge podcast focused on the potential to grow protein crops in Ireland; this brings beans into sharp focus.
As February progresses and the land continues to dry out, many farmers will be giving serious thought to the prospect of growing beans.
This is a crop that benefits from both early planting and an early harvest.
Teagasc tillage specialist, Ciaran Collins confirmed that 9,200ha of spring beans were grown in Ireland in 2022. There was a much smaller area of winter beans planted out.
“Since the introduction of the protein payment back in 2015, the average area of spring beans planted out has been in the region of 9,500ha,” Collins said.
“So, last year was very close to that average. In terms of yield, 2022 was an excellent year; 6.1t/ha was the average output secured across the country.
“However, the performance of beans can be slightly more variable than other crops. The long-term average output since 2015 is 5.4t.”
Yields from protein crops
According to Collins, overall yields across all the crop types grown in Ireland were very good in 2022.
“One of the issues with beans is the fact that they are very susceptible to stress, particularly around flowering time,” he explained
“Factors here can include frost, disease and extremely hot conditions. Chocolate spot is a disease that attacks beans. If it becomes an issue around flowering time, then subsequent yield potential can be impacted significantly.
“However, in 2022, none of these issues arose.
“Drought conditions during May and early June will have real impact on bean crops. However, this is not the case, if the dry conditions become an issue later in the season,” he added.
Promoting native crops
The government is committed to increasing the area of native grain and protein crops grown in the country. This principle is outlined within the Farm to Fork strategy.
“The Ag Climatise document specifically references the benefits of increasing the area of beans grown in Ireland to 40,000ha per annum,” Collins continued.
“The new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which runs up to 2027, has a fund €7 million to support the production of protein crops. This is an increase of €3 million, compared with the previous regime.
“The objective there is to support 20,000ha of legumes. And in the short term, beans will be the main crop to be considered in this context.
“This works out at a protein support payment of €350/ha.”
Payments for protein crops
Collins acknowledged that while this area is progressing, the area payment could be much higher.
“It could be up to €500/ha, depending on the area sown. This would be the area payment available if the total area of legumes sown out in 2023 came in at 14,000ha,” he said.
Under the current protein scheme, the maximum support payment on offer to growers is €583/ha.
Teagasc has worked through a projected gross margin for spring beans in 2023, based on a projected support payment of €500/ha.
The estimates indicate that the financial performance of beans will be twice that of spring barley, based on average yield figures for both crop types.
“So beans actually stack up for the year ahead,” the Teagasc tillage specialist stressed.
Markets
However, growing a crop of beans is one thing, finding a market for the final product is an entirely different challenge.
Ciaran Collins admits that location plays a key role in this context.
“The financials of growing beans obviously stack up. But growers must seek out potential customers for the crop,” he stated.
“However, early indications for 2023 would indicate that merchants around the country are now showing more interest in beans.
“Mixed farmers can also feed the beans they produce to their own stock. They are an excellent source of energy. In fact, the energy is as good as that which can be secured from cereal crops.
“To feed them, they need to be rolled,” he explained.
Field conditions
When it comes to growing beans, field selection is critically important. First time growers are strongly advised to select a site with a very high level of inherent fertility.
Teagasc trials have confirmed that beans respond particularly well in fields that are inherently fertile. Soil pH values are also very important.
Beans should not be sown in fields that a pH value that is less than 6.5. Growers should lime accordingly in order to meet this requirement.
“Where phosphorous and potash are concerned, growers should target index 3 values, in the case of both nutrients,” Collins continued.
“The application of chemical phosphorous will not make up the difference in plant requirement that would have automatically been the case, had the soil already been at an index 3 status.
“In cases where soils already have an index 4 status for phosphorous, it is not allowed to apply additional quantities of the nutrient,” he added.
Spring beans can be planted during the period February to April. However, there is an advantage in getting them planted earlier in lighter soils.
“Heavier soils provide the benefits of having greater water retention capacity, making them more resilient to drought,” Collins explained.
“However, as a rule of thumb, I would not let the opportunity pass me by of getting beans into the ground over the coming weeks. There is absolutely no advantage in waiting at this stage.”
With early sown spring crops of beans, the recommended seeding rate is 25 seeds/m². During March, the recommended seeding rate is in the range 30-35 seeds/m².
The thousand grain weight of the beans sown can have a massive influence on bean seeding rates.
Bean varieties
Two main spring bean varieties are available to Irish growers. Both feature on the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) Recommended List.
According to Ciaran Collins, Lynx is the highest yielding variety with a good protein content.
It has very good brackling and lodging resistance. Lynx has good chocolate spot and downy mildew resistance while moderately resistant to rust. The variety will make up 72% of the seed available to bean growers in 2023.
Caprice is the other bean variety of note that will be available to Irish growers in 2023. It first came onto the DAFM Recommended List in 2022 as a provisionally recommended variety.
It is a good yielding variety with good protein content. Caprice has good brackling resistance and excellent lodging resistance. Where disease is concerned, it has good chocolate spot, downy mildew and moderate resistance to rust.
The third spring bean variety that features on the DAFM list for 2023 is Victus. Very small quantities of seed will be available in Ireland this year.
It is a good yielding variety with good protein content and has moderate brackling and good lodging resistance.
Victus has good chocolate spot and downy mildew resistance while being moderately resistant to rust. The breeder claims this variety is low in the anti-nutritional compounds vicine and convicine.
As a consequence, the variety is more suited to higher value markets.
Beans sown in the early part of the spring are very prone to attack by crows. The advice is to get the seeds down to a good depth in the soil, in the region of 4-5in, if possible.