Virgin land and close co-operation key to sustainable pea production

The build-up of a troublesome soil-borne disease is a key challenge to the vining pea industry and is giving rise to opportunities for new entrants into the crop.

The UK is the largest producer of vining peas in Europe, with about 32,800ha vined in 2014, and our eastern seaboard – from East Anglia to the Yorkshire Wolds – provides the ideal climate for the crop.

Frozen food giant Birds Eye has been providing the country with its staple frozen pea for 69 years and accounts for 45.4% of the UK market off about 10,000ha of land.

The company’s sole supplier to its freezing operation in Hull is grower co-operative The Green Pea Company (GPC), which operates from north Lincolnshire up through eastern Yorkshire within a 35-mile radius of the factory.

See also: The great British vining pea harvest in pictures

GPC is contracted to provide about 46,000t of vining peas annually for Birds Eye’s highest-quality premium brand.

Based near Elsham, north Lincolnshire, Julian Hargreaves grows 150ha of the crop and he sees the build-up of foot-and-root rot as the single biggest threat to the sustainability of the vining pea business.

The disease poses such a significant challenge because there is currently no varietal resistance or chemical control to negate the problem, which is more common on heavy or poorly drained land.

Good drainage

The only solution is to lengthen the period between pea crops across the rotation and ensure that soil structure and drainage systems remain in good condition.

“In the past we have grown the crop on a one-in-three rotation, now we are growing peas one-in-six. In the future we would like to move to one in seven.

“There are occasionally opportunities for new growers to join the group and they bring the big benefit of virgin land, free from the disease,” explains Mr Hargreaves.

Birds Eye agriculture manager Andrew Whitely says it is rare for growers to drop out of contracts, but the build-up of foot-and-root rot can force their hand.

When new growers are taken in, they allow the reduction in disease problems and others to lengthen their rotation to keep the crop viable in the years ahead.

“Growers are not taken on lightly and are chosen by Birds Eye after a consultation with GPC. Only once all parties are happy can things be taken forward,” says Mr Whitley.

Co-operation crucial

GPC is a merger of five smaller pea-growing groups, which is now the largest pea-producing co-operative in the world, and Mr Hargreaves says this is helping to overcome the economic challenge the sector faces.

The pooling of resources in 2008 allowed the group to come together under one chairman and board, reducing costs and giving it a position of strength when negotiating with its sole customer, Birds Eye.

“We are comprehensively better under one banner – we are all in it together. We have a system of equalisation to smooth out peaks and troughs, while rewarding excellence too,” says Mr Hargreaves.

He refers to the system that GPC uses to share the profits, with smaller local groups with the same variety, similar geography and drill dates growing in pools.

In each crop pool, a mean yield is established and growers that have produced above the mean are rewarded with a higher per-hectare payment.

If complete crop failure occurs, a pooling committee assesses the field to establish cause, which could be poor husbandry, chemical damage or an extreme weather incident.

The grower is then paid a percentage of the mean at the committee’s discretion, depending on the reason for crop failure.

“We need a system that is fair, and this is the fairest way. There are always some anomalies, but generally the system works well and it allows the pea crop to stand on its own and continue to make a profit.

“In a bad year, Birds Eye will compensate its growers and in a good year it will hold the advantage. There is no confrontation,” explains Mr Hargreaves.

He adds that the only drawback is that growers are unable to “fill their boots”, as when Birds Eye has hit its target tonnage for the season, it can choose not to take any more.

Whatever is left is bypassed and reverts back to the growers, unless Birds Eye wants to take the crop for seed.

Where a crop is classed as bypassed, growers receive a payment for 100% of the mean yield in their local pool.

They are unable to sell the peas fresh to other customers, but can harvest them dry as combining peas.

“They are low-growing, so don’t tend to lend themselves to combining, and with farmers under pressure with the cereal harvest, many choose to disc them in,” he says.

Technology uptakes vastly improve efficiency at harvest

Real-time telematics are helping to dramatically improve harvesting efficiency and logistics for The Green Pea Company and Birds Eye as they aim to get every pea from field to frozen in 150 minutes.

The grower group has funded the installation of the technology, supplied by Precision Decisions, to its viners that feed back which harvesters are working and where, along with harvesting output.

The fleet of 30 or so lorries, which are crucial in delivering the fresh peas to the factory within the two-and-a-half-hour time limit, are also GPS tracked.

Birds Eye agriculture manager Andrew Whitely says it has provided the whole operation with a massive advantage when harvest is in full swing. “Because we assume a tonnage for each field, it enables us to gauge a running yield and get a good idea when a particular harvest group will finish a field and move.

“We can then cover the move – which might take up to an hour – by increasing the output of other groups, as we need to keep tonnage coming into the factory,” he adds.

He says harvesters are more likely to be kept working at capacity, along with the factory lines, and ultimately less of the total pea crop is left behind, giving a lower cost of production per tonne.

Software success

Along with the telematics at harvest, Birds Eye’s parent company, Iglo, has developed its own crop management software, Icsys, to track all aspects of production from field to pallet.

One of the most crucial features of the system is managing inputs and, in particular, pesticides, with some requiring permission from Mr Whitely before it can be recommended for use on the crop by his fieldsmen – such as the herbicide Guillotine (flumioxazine).

“The fieldsmen also need to produce a harvest plan each day and the system will also flag up fields with no pesticide records or where a product pre-harvest interval will be exceeded, eliminating the risk of residues,” explains Mr Whitely.

It is hoped that all fieldsmen – who assist in the management of the crop from seed to harvest – will be linked to the system live in the field through tablet devices.

Birds Eye attempted to roll out mobile tablets this season, but it hasn’t been as successful as it had hoped due to mobile signal reliability, but it will persevere.

“It will allow data to be transferred both ways from field to factory, which will be particularly useful at harvest for feeding back admixture and quality [of samples] to help in our decision making,” explains Mr Whitely.