Beans
Field Beans (Vicia faba), whether winter or spring sown, can play a valuable part of any tillage crop rotation. They fix Nitrogen naturally, are superb for soil structure and in themselves can be a very profitable stand-alone crop. The target green yield from Beans should be around 6 tonnes per hectare (2.4 tonnes per acre), but this can vary greatly from season to season depending on climatic conditions.
Developments such as the Protein Payment Scheme and an increasing interest from end users have greatly helped the economic argument for growing beans. Leguminous crops are now suddenly even more interesting given they require no artificial N fertiliser which significantly reduces the costs of growing them.
Next year a new scheme will be introduced to help further develop the volume of native grown protein crops. The aim is to reach 100,000 tonnes produced annually with a target base area of 20,000 hectares, the vast majority of which would be destined for animal feed as a substitute for imported protein alternatives like soybean meal or maize distillers. Crops like beans, peas, vetches and lupins will all qualify for this scheme, but experience shows that beans are the most well adapted crop to our climate and have the potential to consistently best deliver on the targets above.
Other ancillary benefits from beans include a reduced carbon footprint when growing and feeding the crop, together with it being an excellent break before cereals. Beans will typically leave up to 40kg/ha of N in the soil for the next crop, which based on today’s fertiliser prices is a saving worth almost €130/ha.
Site Selection
Like most leguminous crops, beans prefer a soil pH close to neutral (i.e. 7.0). Bean yield is very sensitive to moisture deficit at flowering, which is a big reason why the crop is generally grown on the heavier soils that don’t suffer from dry conditions too easily. Even short-lived droughts can cause flowers to be aborted and a consequent failure to produce pods. Spring beans (in particular) should only be sown on more moisture retentive soils. Earlier sowing of spring beans can also mean that flowering will have progressed before drought is likely to occur. Winter beans can be another way of bringing consistency to the bean crop on light textured soils as they will have developed deeper roots and have progressed further with flowering before drought is likely to occur.
Rotation – beans or other pulses should not be grown more frequently than one year in five to avoid build-up of soil borne diseases and pests. If P levels are low in the soil, the placement of P in the seedbed at sowing can be very beneficial.
Seed Selection & Sowing Rate/ Method
Ensure that whatever seed variety used is free from both Ascochyta and Bean Stem Nematode as both can be very damaging to yield. Goldcrop recommend that you only use Certified Seed which will be tested free for both and will also be guaranteed to have high germination.
The optimum plant population for winter beans is 22-28 plants/m2 whereas spring beans should be higher at 30-35 plants/m2. This will usually require seed rates of 30 to 35 seeds per square metre in winter beans, and 40 to 45 seeds with spring varieties. Check the TGW of the seed lots in question and adjust the drill accordingly. Sometimes, seed size can be very large which will require heavy seed rates of between 220 and 250kg/ha (14 to 16 stone per acre).
Deep seed placement is very important when sowing beans in order to prevent crow damage. Correct setting up of Suffolk coulter drills or the use of Strip till drills makes deep sowing possible. Shallow ploughing down of the seed is also an option. It is important to monitor crops carefully after sowing to check for bird damage, and
also to watch out for attack by bean weevil, typically noticeable by the ‘notching’ on leaves in early growth stages.
Crop Protection & Nutrition
The best broadleaf weed control option is a pre-emergence application of Nirvana, Stallion etc. Post emergence options for broadleaf weeds are both expensive and unreliable. Grass weeds and volunteer cereals can be taken out with a graminicide (e.g. Falcon) and this is a useful way to curtail the spread of such species in between cereal crops.
Spring and winter bean crops should be sprayed at least twice for the control of Chocolate Spot, Bean Rust and Downy Mildew. Chocolate Spot can only be controlled preventatively, the main products used are Signum and Elatus Era. Strobilurin type fungicides like Amistar, along with Elatus Era, can be used to prevent Bean Rust, while various formulations of tebuconazole will be required for knockdown of severe Bean Rust should it get into a crop. Choosing a variety with good rust resistance will also help in this regard (e.g. CAPRICE).Basfoliar Activ is an economical and effective way of preventing Downy Mildew in Beans, it also provides nutrients to the crop.
Beans also respond well to the application of trace elements like Zinc, Magnesium and Manganese, especially during the stem extension and flowering phases of growth. Co-formulated products like EPSO Combitop are useful in this regard and are also very cost-effective to apply.
Harvesting
Winter beans should come to harvest towards the end of August, and spring sown crops will usually be another 2 or 3 weeks later. It may be necessary to desiccate pre-harvest (if there is bad weed infestation which would affect combining) but generally pre-harvest desiccation is not necessary and should be avoided. It’s important to be patient and allow the crop to dry down naturally / sufficiently before harvest, the target moisture should be 18 to 22%.
Future Developments
Plant Breeders are actively working on increased yield, better disease resistance, improved tolerance to drought conditions, together with enhanced feeding quality / nutritive characters. For example, higher protein varieties are currently under evaluation in Irish trials, together with lower tannin and low vicine/convicine content too. Reducing such ‘anti-nutritional’ factors will greatly improve the uptake of beans in animal feeds, and also allow for a higher proportion of inclusion in such rations.
Spring Beans
Irish Recommended Spring Beans List 2026
| VARIETY | LYNX | Protina (PR-1) | Callas |
| Treated Yield (t/ha @ 15% moisture) | 100 | 100 | 99 |
| % Crude Protein | 100 | 104 | 102 |
| Plant Height (cm) | 137 | 136 | 136 |
| Brackling Resistance (1 – 9, 9 = best) | 7 | 7 | 6 |
| Lodging Resistance (1 – 9, 9 = best) | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Earliness of Maturity (1 – 9, 9 = Earliest) | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| RESTANCE TO | |||
| Chocolate Spot (1 – 9, 9 = most resistant) | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Downy Mildew (1 – 9, 9 = most resistant) | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Rust (1 – 9, 9 = most resistant) | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Year of first Recommendation | 2019 | 2024 | 2026 |
Table Notes
- Yields are expressed as a percentage of the yield of Lynx (100 = 6.7t/ha @ 15% moisture content)
- Crude protein is expressed as a percentage of the crude protein content of Lynx (100 = 23.9% crude protein on a dry matter basis)
- Data is based on results of fungicide treated trials with the exception of disease resistance ratings which uses untreated trial data.
- Disease resistance ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 9. Disease ratings with scores of 8 and over are very resistant; 7 indicates good resistance and 6 indicates moderate resistance; 5 indicates moderate susceptibility while 4 is rated susceptible; 1,2 and 3 arevery susceptible.
- Figures shown in brackets ( ) are based on limited data and should be treated with caution.
You can download the Spring Bean Varieties Irish Recommended List 2026 here >>>
Top Tips for Establishing Winter Beans
- Sow no earlier than end October and no later than end January
- Check soil pH – min 6.5 and the closer to 7.0 the better.
- Aim to establish 20 – 22 plants per sq metre (sow 28 – 30 seeds per sq metre)
- Sow as deep as possible and ideally 12 – 15cm depth (direct drill..?)
- Watch out for crow attack after sowing – take preventative measures!
- Use suitable residual herbicide after sowing (e.g. Nirvana / Stomp Aqua / Stallion)
- Take out any volunteer cereals / grass weeds with suitable graminicide before late spring (e.g. Falcon)
Winter Beans Varieties
Winter Beans – PGRO UK Descriptive List 2024
| PALE HILUM | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VESPA | VINCENT | BUMBLE | LG ARCTIC | NORTON | BONNEVILLE | NINJA | HONEY | TUNDRA | |
| AGRONOMIC CHARACTERS | |||||||||
| Yield as % control | 109 | 107 | 105 | 104 | 101 | 100 | 98 | 94 | 93 |
| Flower colour (C=coloured) | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | C | C |
| Earliness of maturity (1-9) | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 6 |
| Straw length (cm) | 113 | 114 | 118 | 113 | 109 | 113 | 105 | 104 | 104 |
| Standing ability at harvest (1-9) | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| RESISTANCE TO | |||||||||
| Downy mildew (1-9) | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| Rust* (1-9) | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 |
| Chocolate spot (1-9) | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| SEED CHARACTERS | |||||||||
| Thousand seed weight (g)(@15%mc) | 675 | 779 | 671 | 652 | 666 | 703 | 623 | 674 | 605 |
| Protein content (%dry) | 25.4 | 26.8 | 25.0 | 26.0 | 25.6 | 25.8 | 27.3 | 25.8 | 25.6 |
| No. years in matrix | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 |
| Year first listed | 18 | 21 | 16 | 24 | 21 | 23 | 24 | 12 | 14 |
Peas
Download the COMBINING PEAS – PGRO Descriptive List 2022 below
