As seeding progresses in Manitoba, some producers will be starting to sow their edible bean crops.
Manitoba Agriculture's industry development specialist for pulses Dennis Lange says now is about the time bean seeding typically starts because the crops like warm soil and do well with being planted later in the seeding season.
However, because this spring has been fairly hot and dry so far, Lange says seeding depth has been a concern for many producers.
"Typically, normal planting depth for beans is 3/4 of an inch, to 1 1/4 inches. That's kind of ideal. Planting them into moisture gets them off to a good start," he says, adding that this year, producers may have to go deeper.
"Probably the best answer I can give at this point, is only plant as deep as you need to to get moisture," Lange says, "so if you have moisture at 1 1/4 inch, don't plant them at 1 1/2 inches because you want to get (the beans) to moisture, but not any deeper than you need to."
Lange says some growers have been looking at planting their beans at two inches or lower, but he says this could result in a reduced plant stand.
Source : Steinbachonline