Growing for gold with new spring bean

Yukon crop timeline. May 26: Crop established. June 15: Flowering.

Spring bean Yukon may not seem an obvious choice for growers at first glance of the Descriptive List, but there is more to the variety than its yield. Arable Farming reports.

With a yield rating of 91, Yukon trails its stablemate variety Lynx by some margin. But keep reading to the right across the PGRO Descriptive List columns and some interesting figures emerge.

First off, Yukon is the earliest maturing variety on the spring bean list and the only variety with an 8 rating for earliness, making it a contender for growers in the north of England and Scotland in particular.

Ranking

Indeed, the early maturity may explain its yield ranking in trials as, unlike in most farm situations, all varieties in trials – whether early or late maturing – have to be combined together.

It also has the highest downy mildew rating (8) among the pale hilum varieties on the list, a clear plus for all growers, whether in the north or south of the country.

To add to those benefits, Yukon has a very high thousand seed weight (TSW) at 632, giving it a very marketable sample for buyers in Egypt who form the main export market for UK-grown beans.

However, Yukon is not just a variety for the North. According

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August 7: Senescence. August 10: Harvesting.

July 6: Podding.

Growing for gold with new spring bean

In the field McGregor Farms, Berwickshire

JMcGregor Farms grew a seed crop of Yukon last year. Arable manager David Fuller says while the variety was later at every growth stage during the growing season, its maturity accelerated and it was harvested on September 17, which was the same day as the farm’s other spring bean crop, and it provided a comparable yield and moisture content.

He says: “We do find in our part of the world that harvest date is dictated more heavily by drilling date and weather patterns than bean maturity.

Maturity

“Having said that, the earlier the crop matures the more available suitable harvest days there will be. Downy mildew was less problematic in the Yukon.

“We grew Yukon again this year and harvested them on August 27, with a yield of just over six tonnes per hectare.

“There are still spring beans in the Borders that haven’t, as yet [September 10], been harvested.” Bold samples help marketability

JAndy Bury, pulse manager for Frontier Agriculture, highlights several marketing pluses offered by Yukon.

He says: “The key benefit for us is Yukon’s high thousand seed weight [TSW]. That means a nice, plump sample for our customers in Egypt who form the main human consumption export market for UK-grown beans.

“Buyers in Egypt like larger beans as they are ideal for splitting (or dehulling, as it is called in this market). That helps us compete against the largersized Australian beans that are our key competition. Indeed, once Aussie beans hit the market in midNovember, that usually closes off the Egyptian market for us.”

Mr Bury adds that the variety’s TSW is also of value in the equally important UK aquaculture market for dehulled beans.

“In summary, Yukon has good visual appeal - its large size and brighter, less-stained sample is something that is ideal for our markets,” he says.

August 18: In store. September 9: Sampling.

to Michael Shuldham, pulses product manager for the variety’s breeder, LS Plant Breeding, its early maturity with the added benefits of the highest downy mildew resistance rating and a high TSW means it has a place in the rotation with southern spring bean growers as well as with those in the north of England and Scotland.

Marketability

He says: “Equally important is its marketability, where its high TSW gives a good sample for Egyptian buyers who form the main human consumption export market for UK-grown beans. It is also a plus for the equally important UK aquaculture market for dehulled beans.

“We believe Yukon will find a firm place with UK spring bean growers where its benefits will put it alongside its sister variety, the market leader Lynx.”

Seed growers have been gaining experience with Yukon over the last three years as the variety is multiplied up ready for its full launch for spring 2023 drilling.

Its high thousand seed weight gives a good sample for Egyptian buyers

MICHAEL SHULDHAM

In the field Alex and Robert Brewster, Fife

JAmong the first growers of Yukon were Alex and Robert Brewster, who farm near Dunfermline in the east of Scotland. They say their experience in 2020 confirmed the variety’s earliness.

Alex Brewster says: “We drilled Yukon on March 25, in line with most other spring bean growers around here. Our yield was very respectable, with a shade more than five tonnes per hectare.

“What was even better was that we harvested on September 15 – that’s 14 days before most of the others in the area – which is a valuable practical benefit for us.

“And it was a dream to cut, with the pods starting higher up the plant than other varieties we have grown, and it produced a big, bold sample.”

It was a dream to cut, with the pods starting higher up the plant

ALEX BREWSTER

In the field J. Hopwood and Son, Yorkshire

JYorkshire grower J. Hopwood and Son has just completed its third year of growing seed crops of Yukon on-farm to the south of York.

The business farms 200 hectares of combinable crops, growing spring beans, wheat, winter and spring barley, oilseed rape and combining peas on light-medium loam, typical of the Vale of York.

Julian Hopwood says: “The spring beans are a good entry for wheat – and we only grow first wheat. We gave up potatoes five years ago and the beans give us a good, flexible break and tick the boxes for us.

“This is the third year of growing Yukon and the variety was drilled in three fields in early April at a rate of 45 seeds/sq.m, based on the advice of seed supplier Peter Fox of Daltons Seeds, allowing for its thousand seed weight of 632, one of the highest on the PGRO list.”

The Yukon was grown after cover crops, so it did not need phosphate, just an application of potash.

The weed and disease control programme started with Nirvana (imazamox + pendimethalin) pre-emergence followed by applications of Tomahawk (fluroxypyr), Teboo (tebuconazole) and Signum (boscalid + pyraclostrobin) during the growing season.

The very hot and dry spell in June took a bite out of our yield

JULIAN HOPWOOD

Clean

On the disease front, it was worth noting that Yukon was very clean, with no issues with downy mildew, says Mr Hopwood.

The crop also received applications of liquid manganese and Odyssey biostimulant.

Yields were down this harvest after a hot, dry summer.

“We‘ve never dried our beans and they usually come off under 17% – and this very dry year we were down to 14 or 15%,” says Mr Hopwood.

“The very hot and dry spell in June took a bite out of our yield and it was a drop from the 2.5t/acre we achieved in the first two years.”

Anecdotally, the farms’ 2020 crop of Yukon was the highestyielding bean seed crop among Dalton Seeds’ 22 growers that year, he adds.

“In compensation for this year’s low yield, the quality was high, with the Yukon giving a bright, bold sample with little bruchid damage.”