Bean champ was too dry for seed…
Bean champ was too dry for seed…
A BEDFORDSHIRE crop too dry for seed has won the Bean Championship in the 1997 BEPA Pulse Competition.
The prize-winning Victor spring beans, off heavy land, came from 25ha (62 acres) grown for seed on behalf of Norfolk-based Seed Innovations by R A Gibson (Colesden).
Seed production
All combinable crops at the 688ha (1700-acre) Bell Farm, Colesden, apart from oilseed rape and linseed, are produced for seed and sold through the Gibson seed plant.
But when this years Mar 11-sown crop was combined on Aug 20 it came off at 13% moisture – too dry for seed which ideally should be 15-17%, says SIs managing director, Gerry Cook. Yield was 5.7t/ha (2.3t/acre).
The winning sample, judged solely on its "appeal to the eye of the buyer", after soaking to detect any bruchid beetle damage, is probably destined for the export market, he says.