Faba beans have resurfaced as a potential crop for this area. Interest in having a pulse in the crop rotation, but having trouble growing peas in some areas, has sparked a renewed interest in faba beans.
Faba beans are one of my favourite crops simply because they are great nitrogen fixers. Peas fix about 40 to 70 per cent of their needed nitrogen whereas faba beans can fix up to 90 per cent. Having a crop that will fix a lot of nitrogen is beneficial to the pocket book in the year of seeding but also for the following year's crop. Research with faba beans shows a definite yield boost up to two years after planting.
Limitations to faba bean production in the past resulted from the large seed being difficult to move through current seeding systems and the tannins in the seed coat that were undesirable for animal feed. Successful faba bean breeding programs have led to the development of varieties with smaller seed size and varieties that are considered zero tannin. Now producers can grow a variety that has a seed size more similar to a large pea and marketing options have opened up into livestock feed industry.
Speaking of markets, faba bean can be sold for human consumption, livestock feed, or fractioned and used for starch, protein, and fiber sources. Variety choice depends on the market you want to sell into, and producers should have production contracts to ensure they have a buyer for the harvested grain. The markets are fairly small as of yet so too many acres or too much production and the markets could be flooded. Production contracts help control the acres and the supply and can help with grain movement in a time when grain movement is a huge issue. A list of faba bean brokers and buyers is available in the publication 'Saskatchewan Special Crop Marketing Company Synopsis'.
On the agronomic side, faba bean is much like peas. Seed them early on low nitrogen fields at approximately two inches deep. Target a minimum of 45 plants per square metre. Research is suggesting higher yields when seeding rates increased to target 60 plants per square metre. Higher seeding rates can hasten maturity and provide better weed competition. Similar to peas, faba bean seed is sensitive to mechanical damage and care should be taken when handling the seed at seeding time and at harvest.
Weed control is somewhat limited but there are products registered for use on faba beans such as pre-plant Edge, Sencor and Treflan, as well as post emergent Basagran, Basagran Forte, Odyssey WDG, and Poast Ultra, (see your Guide to Crop Protection for more details). Pre-seed burn off with glyphosate will help control winter annual and early emerging weeds. Express SG may be applied as a tank mix with glyphosate but 2,4-D or dicamba should not be used prior to faba beans. Faba beans are more sensitive than peas to residual herbicides so please check the herbicide history of the field closely before seeding faba beans.
Scouting faba beans regularly through the growing season will be important to identify any pest issues. There are a number of diseases that can affect faba beans including chocolate spot (botrytis), ascochyta, sclerotinia, anthracnose, bean yellow mosaic virus, rust, alternaria leaf spot, aster yellows, and powdery mildew. Crop rotation is important for controlling stubble or soil borne diseases. Fungicides registered for use on faba beans include Headline and Lance. In terms of insects, the main ones are cutworms, grasshoppers, lygus bugs, blister beetles, leafhoppers and aphids. Currently the only insecticides registered for us on faba bean are Coragen, Matador and Silencor.
Faba beans differ from peas in terms of their sensitivity and need for water. Faba beans typically require eight to ten inches of moisture during the growing season to produce good yields and they can withstand wet soil much better than the sensitive pea crops. Under wetter conditions faba beans will out yield peas and under drier conditions peas tend to out yield faba beans.
Faba beans will mature at 110 to 130 days which is much later than peas. The standability is better and straight cutting is definitely an option and often preferred. Faba bean plants are mature when the bottom leaves start to darken and drop and the bottom pods turn black. The crop can be combined when the moisture content is at 18 to 20 per cent to minimize damage to the seed. Safe storage occurs at moisture content below 16 per cent. Faba bean can 'sweat' after it is placed in storage so extra care should be taken to monitor the grain.
With Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation offering insurance on faba bean acres in most of northwest Saskatchewan and the renewed interest in faba beans by producers, it will be interesting to see how many acres get planted in 2014. Seed supply is pretty much sold out so if you are interested in growing faba beans you may want to start planning for next year.
For more information on faba bean agronomics, marketing or other crops related topics, contact Sherrilyn Phelps at 306-446-7475, visit our website at www.agriculture.gov.sk.ca or call the Agriculture Knowledge Centre at 1-866-457-2377.
- Phelps is Regional Crops Specialist, North Battleford Regional Services Branch.
