Dry Edible Beans
Dry edible beans come in a wide variety of market classes, including kidney bean, navy bean, pinto bean, cranberry bean, and black bean. These beans, although differing in the size and coloring of the seed, are all just different types of a single species, Phaseolus vulgaris L. Originally domesticated in Central and South America over 7000 years ago, dry beans moved their way northward through Mexico and spread across most of the continental U.S. Although grown on a much smaller acreage than soybeans, dry beans are still an important food crop in the U.S. The leading states in dry bean production are North Dakota, Michigan, Nebraska, Colorado, California, and Idaho.
Dry beans should be grown on well drained soils. They are not well adapted to heavy clay soils, and are not tolerant of water logging. Since dry beans are a relatively high value crop, they should be grown on the best soils on the farm. To reduce potential disease problems, it is best to plant dry beans following a grass crop such as corn, wheat, or sorghum, rather than after soybeans or sunflowers. Dry beans should not be grown in the same field in consecutive years.
Adams Family Farm specializes in the following dry beans: pinto, cranberry, black, dark red kidney, pinks. Our team raises close to 1/8 of the countries supply of cranberry beans. We pride ourselves on our edible bean product. We are confident we raise some of the finest beans in the World. Factors that contribute to the value of our product consist of both on field and off field practices. Such practices include:
-Maintaining a thorough crop rotation of a minimum 3 years. By doing this we are reducing the likelihood of disease and minimizing chemical usage.
-Planting in rows which allow us to mechanically till the weeds in-between the rows.
-The use of micro rates that use ½ of the normal rate of herbicide. Introducing micro rates in early plant life ensures we keep a valuable and safe consumer product at market time.
-Specialized equipment and technology play the largest role in the success of our edible bean crop. Furthermore, we use GPS guidance technology to not only till the ground prior to planting, but also in the planting, spraying, mechanical weed control, and the harvesting of the crop. This allows us to be as efficient as possible so there is no over/under seeding or over/under spraying. Another important feature with our equipment is the equipment itself. Adams Family Farm finds it important to have the right tool for the job and when it comes to edible beans this couldn’t hold more truth. We use specialized bean equipment to cut and windrow the beans with minimal agitation to the pods, and to harvest the crop. Our bean combines ensure adequate steps to get the bean out of the pod and into the truck with the least amount of resistance. This equipment guarantees to have the beans as clean as possible going into the truck so that we have less procedures in the processing of our beans.