Brought to you by Limagrain
Dutch acreage of field beans continues to grow
The cultivation of protein crops can count on increasing interest within the European Union. The cultivation of the field bean in the Netherlands falls within the greening requirements of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) as an ecological focus area.
The winter field bean Tundra was introduced to the Netherlands in 2015 from the UK breeding program of Limagrain and the amount of orders is increasing every year. The acreage of protein crops, including that of the field bean, also continues to grow in general.
In 10 years, the acreage of protein crops has increased from 5.642 hectares to 9.124 hectares, an increase of 61,7%. This is partly due to the advice of the Soil Reliance Committee to obtain at least 2025% protein from our own land by 65.
Local cultivation: protein from our own country
The cultivation of (winter) field beans offers many advantages for the dairy farmer, poultry farmer and arable farmer. For a dairy farmer, the strength of the product lies in the production of balanced concentrates (with protein and starch), while the arable farmer sees a crop with very intensive rooting and beautiful stubble, which also leaves a good nitrogen supply to the subsequent crop. .
It is also interesting for both of them to enter into a partnership. As a legume, the field bean fits well in an arable crop rotation and the yield potential of a winter field bean of the Tundra variety is worth 5 to more than 8 tons of beans per hectare.
Experiences growing winter field beans
In recent years we have heard plenty of experiences from (dairy) cattle farmers, arable farmers and poultry farmers. For example, a higher milk protein is obtained with field beans and the addition of beans in the ration can be measured directly. For the arable farmer, the field bean is a very good addition to the crop plan and poultry farmers say that higher egg weights contribute to a better yield of laying hens.
Want to know more about field beans? Request the white paper here.
