Ok then ever since I can remember it has been the case that you must plough for spring beans as they don't like compaction.
This may be true that they don't like compaction but I think it is more a case of they are very sensitive to density changes.
When I used to plough for them, the middle of the field would grow very tall and thick but the headlands would often be short and stunted due to turning with a tractor and power harrow first, then the tractor and drill. This was accepted to be the norm by most.
I then started to do less to the ground in preparation for beans and have noted that going form ploughing to min till (non inversion max till really) meant the whole field was shorter and there was still shorter and stunted plants on the headlands. I started to increase the seedrate and had excellent yields from spring beans grown like this.
Now I have made it all the way to direct drilling and the headlands are even and not suffering at all as far as I can see, the beans are growing like billyo and look promising.
I have come to the conclusion that it is not compaction but density changes that plants dislike so much, this is why if you subsoil properly (14-18 inches) the plants do well, but doing less than that is no better than doing nothing UNLESS there is a serious compaction issue form harvest, which appears to be less of an issue if you do less disturbance anyway.
Comments welcome.
This may be true that they don't like compaction but I think it is more a case of they are very sensitive to density changes.
When I used to plough for them, the middle of the field would grow very tall and thick but the headlands would often be short and stunted due to turning with a tractor and power harrow first, then the tractor and drill. This was accepted to be the norm by most.
I then started to do less to the ground in preparation for beans and have noted that going form ploughing to min till (non inversion max till really) meant the whole field was shorter and there was still shorter and stunted plants on the headlands. I started to increase the seedrate and had excellent yields from spring beans grown like this.
Now I have made it all the way to direct drilling and the headlands are even and not suffering at all as far as I can see, the beans are growing like billyo and look promising.
I have come to the conclusion that it is not compaction but density changes that plants dislike so much, this is why if you subsoil properly (14-18 inches) the plants do well, but doing less than that is no better than doing nothing UNLESS there is a serious compaction issue form harvest, which appears to be less of an issue if you do less disturbance anyway.
Comments welcome.