Give Your Pulse a Chance

The secret to success at any level is to get the basics right and then pay attention to the details. Growing pulses is no different. There is no point in growing a pulse as part of your rotation, and expecting to get benefits such as increased nitrogen, if you don't give the pulse the best chance possible. A pulse in the wrong paddock won't grow, won't yield and will end up using nitrogen.

Making sure the pulse crop is suitable for the paddock, fits in with your farming system, and can be marketed are the initial basic steps towards success.

Why a pulse?

A pulse puts life back into your rotation. Pulses should be viewed as both cash crops and as a health kick for your crop rotation. They reduce disease, aid weed management, spread risk and add nitrogen to the system. Calculation of gross margins should take into account the flow-on cash benefits in subsequent cereal and canola crops, and the grazing value to livestock enterprises over summer.

Pulses, while often less profitable than cereals in their first year, substantially boost profit in the following wheat crop so that profit of the overall rotation becomes greater than continuous wheat production with or without applied nitrogen.

The paddock

  • The rhizobium which form root nodules and fix nitrogen are sensitive to soil pH. Lupin rhizobia tolerate very acid soils with high levels of aluminium. Field pea rhizobia don't tolerate high levels of aluminium but grow down to pH 4.5 (CaCl2). Faba bean and chickpea need a pH above 5.0 (CaCl2), and lentils above pH 5.2 (CaCl2). You also need to check subsoil pH. Faba beans have failed in southern NSW when the roots hit acid soil at 10-20cm below well-limed topsoil.
  • All pulses apart from faba beans are sensitive to periods of waterlogging. Chickpeas, lupins and lentils are all very sensitive. Slope is not the only consideration. Soils must be well structured so that they drain quickly ie water flows through them.
  • Surface rocks and sticks cause problems at harvest. Avoid these paddocks for field peas and lentils. Always roll field pea and lentil paddocks to flatten clods. This can be done pre-emergent or up to 4th node stage.
  • Hard pans or plough pans have been associated with phytophthora root rot (sudden-death) in lupins, and reduce the yield potential of faba beans as their roots have problems penetrating hard layers. Choose paddocks that are known to be free of hard layers and check that seeding machinery is not creating a hard pan during sowing.

Weeds

  • Don't put excess pressure on the cropping system by growing pulses in paddocks with a high weed population and letting the seed bank blow out.
  • Identify the spectrum of weeds, herbicide options, herbicide residues and herbicide resistance problems before choosing a pulse crop. Wild radish can be controlled in field peas and lupins. The range of herbicides available in chickpea, faba bean and lentil is limited.
  • Check plant back periods for residual herbicides, especially Group B sulphonylurea herbicides.
  • Use the pulse phase to easily control grass weeds and to rotate herbicide groups.

The farm operations

  • Time of sowing is critical to optimise yield and minimise disease risk. For example, the time and order of crop sowing in southern NSW is early wheat, canola and lupin in April, faba bean in early May, followed by main season wheat and chickpeas, then lentils and field peas in June.
  • Large seed of faba bean can cause blockages in sowing machinery. Inoculum on seed increases the problem. Test and calibrate machinery ahead of time with inoculated seed to avoid costly delays at sowing time.
  • Check the needs of other farm enterprises:
    • Does the pulse crop fit in with other operations-sowing, spray operations, harvest?
    • Is there a need for high quality stock feed?
    • Will you have time to monitor for disease (faba beans need inspecting at least twice weekly during September and October)?
    • Will you be able to de-contaminate your boom to apply fungicides at the drop of a hat?
    • Will insecticides be able to be applied to control native budworn (Helicoverpa sp.) - you may be too close to town or planes may be hard to obtain on time?

The markets

  • Check out the market before choosing which pulse to grow. Seek advice on the following questions.
    • Is there a ready market?
    • Which variety is preferred?
    • How well does the preferred variety yield locally?
    • What is the average price for the last five years?
    • How volatile is the price?
    • Are you going to have to store grain on farm to obtain optimum price?
    • Stock feed or human consumption food markets?
    • Domestic or export markets?
    • Are there any special quality standards?
    • What is the fall back option if quality standards are not met?

SummaryWith a bit of planning, growing the pulse crop best suited to your paddock will greatly reduce the production risk, while the cash returns and flow-on benefits such as added nitrogen and increased cereal yield will be maximised.

 

 

 

 

Seed size varies greatly between pulse species. Test machinery to make sure you can sow the large seeded ones like faba beans. From top right (large white) clockwise - Kiev Mutant albus lupin, Wonga narrow-leaf lupin, Excell field pea, Snowpeak field pea, Parafield field pea, Matilda green lentil, Digger red lentil, Icarus faba bean, Fiesta faba bean, Fiord faba bean, wheat in centre.