The bean ball is being handed off to Saskatchewan farmers and many appear willing to run with it.
Dryland bean production has been rapidly increasing in the province. A few years ago virtually no beans were grown in Saskatchewan. Last year a significant number of producers grew small plots, totaling 12,000 acres.
The Saskatchewan Pulse Growers expects 22,000 acres to be planted this spring.
University of Saskatchewan bean specialist Bert Vandenberg said he thinks many farmers have accepted that beans are a legitimate crop to grow in Saskatchewan.
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“People are realizing that if they’re in the right part of the province, they really should consider this,” said Vandenberg.
“We’re right where chickpeas were six years ago.”
Chickpeas have gone from virtually no acres in 1989 to 350,000 acres in 1999. In 2000, the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers expects 484,000 acres to be seeded to chickpeas.
Researchers have long believed that dryland beans can be grown profitably in Saskatchewan’s grainbelt. They are an important crop in longer-season areas such as the Red River Valley in Manitoba and North Dakota.
Vandenberg, who has been working with beans for more than 10 years, said the initial obstacle was Saskatchewan’s short growing season.
But now a number of bean varieties have been developed that can produce a good crop in Saskatchewan, varieties that some growers have tried in the last couple of years.
Vandenberg said the main obstacle now to increasing bean acreage is knowledge, since few producers have experience growing the crop.
Last year, a group of Rosthern farmers grew test plots of beans. Headed by local farmer Larry Janzen, the group was advised by a number of people, including Vandenberg.
The experiment produced mixed results. A simple production mistake – not soaking seed long enough – caused some growers to suffer 50 percent yield losses. But in general the farmers liked what they saw.
“We’re one-year experts,” joked Janzen. “But we’ve seen enough to continue. In the end, someone in Saskatchewan is going to know how to grow beans.”
Vandenberg said setting up other producer groups will help beans spread.
“Our next project is to clone (Janzen),” joked Vandenberg.
By spring, Vandenberg hopes to see a number of groups like Janzen’s.
“We need a string of (grower groups) all down the thin black soil zone.
“If they’re successful their neighbors will copy them.”
