Despite relatively low prices this season and the prospect of weed control becoming more expensive in three years’ time, field beans for the premium markets of human consumption and seed look set to remain key cereal breaks at Catmore Farm, West Ilsley.

“We started growing beans for the 2003 harvest,” says Nigel Horne. “We used to have peas, but harvest always clashed with the wheat and on our stony soils we got a lot of wear on the combine.”

The alternative, more oilseed rape to maximise the area of first wheat, was ruled out. “Yields soon drop off if you have too much in the rotation,” explains the farm’s agronomist Steve Cook of Hampshire Arable Systems.

“The beans’ variable costs are lower than peas and they need a lot less management,” he adds.

So the all-arable farm’s breaks are now about 50:50 rape and beans. “This season we’ll have 80ha of rape, 60ha of Wizard winter beans and 35ha of spring beans – probably Fuego,” says Mr Horne.

The latter, for seed and introduced two years ago, follow sheep-grazed stubble turnips and effectively double-crop the land.
Yields are not spectacular, he admits.

“We average 4.5t/ha, but didn’t get that this year. We target 3.5t/ha with the spring crop, but dry weather means we have probably less than three this time.”

The gross margin even for the winter crop is about £50/ha (£20/acre) less than for oilseed rape.

“But you need to think beyond individual crops and consider the rotation as a whole,” says Mr Horne.Crucially, beans spread both harvest and autumn sowing workloads, he points out.

At first the seed, which is always tested for ascochyta if home-saved, was broadcast and ploughed down. But more recently it has been sown using an Accord distributor fitted to a McConnel Shakaerator.

Even with a post-rolling operation to smooth the land the new method is cheaper, but establishment is no worse, he believes.

“You need to roll or you can end up with the double combining whammy of a poorly established thin crop that pods low and a rough seed-bed,” says Mr Cook.

But fewer following operations work in favour of beans and help present them more favourably against oilseed rape, he says.

“If you can keep establishment costs down the actual margins are not too disastrous. That’s because you generally need a lot more passes with oilseed rape.

“With beans it might be only four, but with rape it can be up to 10, and each could be costing Nigel £3.50/ha just to go through.”

The main cloud on the horizon is the withdrawal of simazine after December 2007. At just £6/ha (£2.40/acre) the herbicide provides good cheap broad spectrum weed control.

“We do have a pre-emergence SOLA for Stomp, but it’s not so effective; and we’re already relying on it in other crops, so there is a potential resistance risk.

“There is also Kerb and Carbetamex, but they are four or five times the cost of simazine, and Basagran is prohibitively expensive – about £75/ha – which would wipe out any margin.”

But even with Stomp (pendimethalin) pushing input costs up by about 15%, beans are likely to remain in the rotation, both men believe.