FARMERS in the high rainfall cropping zones of Australia have traditionally been wary of pulses.
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"Too prone to disease, too prone to waterlogging", was the general consensus.
However, Pulse Australia industry development officer Wayne Hawthorne said there had been a surge in interest in pulse crops throughout Victoria's Western District and the south-east of South Australia.
Mr Hawthorne said growers were looking for some variety from their primarily canola/cereal rotations and were also looking to add value in a mixed farming operation.
With this in mind, faba beans have come to prominence as the potential big hit, in the Western District in particular.
“At a recent pulse meeting in Lake Bolac, in the Western District, there was a lot of interest in faba beans.
“We are quietly confident that we can grow faba beans well in that general area, given the trials and the commercial experiences, providing we do the job properly.”
Mr Hawthorne said that, even more so than in other cropping environments, attention to detail was crucial to growing pulses well in the Western District.
“We can grow pulses down here, but we do need to do the job properly."
He said issues such as paddock selection and herbicide rotations were critical.
Paddock selection issue is particularly important in the Western District, where there are paddocks with extremely low pH, acidic soils with pH levels of 4.5 to 5.5 common, and paddocks with high sodicity and a tendency to waterlog.
“There will be some paddocks that aren’t suitable for pulses, and there will be other paddocks you have to closely consider your inoculation process to ensure you have factored in the impact the pH will have on nodulation.
“The trial work we have been doing makes you appreciate how important getting correct nodulation is in these acidic environments.”
Because of the pockets of acidic soils lupins have also attracted some interest, due to their ability to handle the conditions, although many farmers found the yield constraints of lupin crops a detraction.
“There is definitely more scope for high yields with faba beans,” Mr Hawthorne said.
He said the other major attractions of beans was their nitrogen fixing qualities, best out of all the pulse crops, and their feed value for livestock.
“The guys that have grown beans have commented on the fact that they are fantastic stubbles for finishing lambs.”
Mr Hawthorne said pulses fitted in well with a rotation with canola, often the primary cash crop through high rainfall cropping areas.
“Pulses can fit in complementarily with canola in the overall rotation, the diversity of herbicide choices and the disease break they bring is a boost for the entire cropping system.”
He said that breeding advances now meant the ‘failure beans’ reputation of days gone by, where crops had to be repeatedly sprayed with fungicide for diseases such as ascochyta and chocolate spot, were long gone.
“The message the pulse industry really wants to get across is that those levels of susceptibility are past history.
“We have new varieties and better fungicides, and we are pretty confident we have the package that will allow all growers, even those in high rainfall zones, where there are better breeding conditions for those diseases, to stay on top of disease pressures.”
