FIRST-TIME faba bean growers on the Darling Downs have been keen to get their grain delivered and to see the results of their foray into this valuable pulse crop.
Agrifoods Australia senior commodity merchant Andrew Webster says the relatively small area of faba beans grown on the Downs will all be harvested by the end of this week and he expects most will be delivered and sold straight off the header.
"This year has seen a big increase in the number of growers trialling faba beans and the season has presented a number of challenges for growers to overcome," he said. "Last year there were only a handful of growers but this year the number of growers giving faba beans a go has increased dramatically."
Insect pressure has been high during the season with helicoverpa larvae being right on threshold for a long time, making it difficult for growers and agronomists to determine the right time to spray.
"The insect damage in early samples indicated that a higher level of control during the season would have been desirable in many crops," Mr Webster said. "Given that the majority of the crop is for the human consumption market there is a very low tolerance for damaged grains."
For a sample to meet the No.1 grade, the level of defectives in the sample must be below 6 per cent. Some growers who delivered grain that fell into the No.3 grade with more than 10pc defectives, chose to grade their grain to remove damaged grain and crop residue to lift the grade from No. 3 (stockfeed) to No.2.
The faba bean market is currently trading at $420 to $435 per tonne for No.1 and $10 to $20/t less for No.2 grade, delivered Downs. With yields in some cases higher than expected for a season with no in-crop rain, faba beans have performed well for growers on the Downs.
"We have been getting consistent reports of yields between 1 and 3t/ha, which is very impressive given that there was concern that the crops might fail due to the lack of rain this year. There were few area contracts taken up for faba beans due to the uncertainty most new growers felt about this new crop," Mr Webster said.
"The results this year have given growers confidence in faba beans and the experience gained will be very valuable in future years.
"As faba beans become more common on the Downs I would expect to see more active use of area contracts as a risk management option in future years."
Andrew expects growers to continue to deliver their faba beans directly after harvest to take advantage of the current prices to generate some cashflow and to see how their crop has performed this season.
"If the area sown to faba beans was to increase dramatically a harvest glut could occur to drive prices down and growers might consider short-term storage under these conditions," he said. "Faba beans store well; however, they do lose their green shade of colour if stored for a few months and this makes them less attractive" for human consumption.
Grain delivered to the Agrifoods Australia depot at Dalby are sampled and tested while the grower watches on and, if needed, the grower is given the option to grade the product to improve the value of their grain.
The grain is then placed in a silo for fumigation before being loaded into shipping containers and primarily marketed as 'farmer dressed' bulk product.
The containers are transported to the wharf at the Port of Brisbane, where the grain is sold to exporters.
Within five days the containers are loaded onto a vessel bound for Egypt. Egypt buys 60-70 per cent of the faba beans grown in Australia to meet the demand for the Egyptians’ second most important staple food.
Pulse Australia senior industry development manager Gordon Cumming said PBA Warda, the variety that Pulse Breeding Australia released specifically for the northern region, had performed well under difficult seasonal conditions.
“PBA Warda opens up new markets for Queensland pulse growers and gives them another winter pulse crop choice,” he said.
“Faba beans are sold into a completely different market to desi chickpeas, reducing a grower’s exposure to market fluctuations.”
Mr Cumming also pointed out the additional flexibility faba beans offered to take advantage of an early seasonal break to plant on rain in March or April, well before the planting window for chickpeas.