Pantyderi Project Introduction: Growing a protein crop
Site: Pantyderi
Technical Officer: Delana Davies
Project Title: Growing a protein crop
Introduction to project
The growing of cereals at Pantyderi provides enough starch energy to grow and finish the 350 cattle on site annually, but a 36% protein concentrate blend is bought in to make up the protein shortfall in the ration. Project work in the first year concentrated on maximising protein level in the silage by taking earlier silage cuts from reseeded swards and incorporating clover into the grass mix. Barley is also crimped at harvest and treated with Home n’ Dry containing urea and soya to produce Alkagrain which is claimed to increase the protein content of the barley by up to 4%.
Rations calculated for the cattle for winter 2020-21 still showed however that protein concentrate inclusions of 1.0 to 1.5kg/head/day were required to bring the protein level of the overall ration up to the 15-16% required to maintain growth targets of 1.3kg/head/day and above. The bought-in blend was based on rapeseed meal and maize distillers grains.
With Pantyderi growing 60 hectares (ha) of cereals annually, the introduction of a pulse break crop such as field beans (Vicia faba) would fit well into the rotation, being a nitrogen fixing legume which benefits the following cereal crop. No nitrogen fertiliser is required for growing the crop, and the different tap root development of beans may provide benefits to soil structure.
Nutritionally, beans can compete favourably with any imported protein sources; its protein and energy characteristics (29% protein and 13.3MJ/kg ME) are similar to maize distillers meal and, at an appropriate price differential, they can compete favourably with soya. Beans can also be fed to ruminants, pigs and poultry.
Historically, perceived variability in yield, limited varietal development and restricted specific agronomy information (including disease control) have thrown up issues that needed to be addressed, and this is combined with poorer gross margins compared with other arable crops. However, the opportunity to displace imported soya and maize distillers meal in livestock feeds promotes home grown field beans as a very sustainable and fully traceable option that can increase the resilience of beef production and reduce its carbon footprint.
Aim of project
The aim of the project is to explore the growing of beans as a concentrated protein source that will fit in comfortably with the existing production system and facilities at Pantyderi.
Harvesting a dry bean crop can be problematical in adverse weather conditions, so to facilitate an earlier harvest, the beans will be combined at a higher moisture level (25-45%), passed through a grain crimping machine and treated with a preservative. This means they can be stored in a sheeted clamp, and outdoors if necessary, with the barley for feeding the beef cattle already harvested and stored in this way. This system also has the advantage that the product is ready to use and no further processing at the time of feeding is then required. Harvesting 3-6 weeks earlier also allows an increased autumn cultivation window for following with a winter cereal crop.
However, a problem with crimped beans is that it can be difficult to exclude air and create the anaerobic clamp conditions with the large particle size of beans. A way around this suggested by the PGRO (Processors and Growers Organisation) is growing beans and peas together. Peas also provide earlier ground cover than the beans, which helps to smother weeds. Their growth habits are also very complimentary with the beans providing a strong scaffold which helps to keep the peas standing later in the season; they also benefit from the same agronomy approach. Double cropping also tends to synchronise any varietal differences with regard time to maturity.
Trials have also indicated that mixed crops regularly produce more than the crops grown individually, from around 3.5-3.7 tonnes/ha for either of the single crops to around 5 t/ha when they were grown together.
The PGRO carry out annual trials throughout the UK and produce the Descriptive List of varieties and an agronomy guide:
https://www.pgro.org/choice-of-varieties-and-pgro-recommended1/
https://www.pgro.org/pulse-agronomy-guide/
A free draining field of 8 ha has been identified for sowing a mixture of spring beans and peas when ground conditions allow from late February. Using the descriptive list and from seed varieties available in the market, the choice will be based on the highest yielding pea and the bean with the highest protein content.
All growing and processing costs will be recorded and cost from seed to feed worked out per tonne. The crop will be incorporated into beef rations for winter 2021-22, formulating rations of equal starch and protein content to the two previous winters, with daily liveweight gains monitored.