Peas and broad beans

[garlicpickle]

My bees are kept near to a farm. I walked over some of the land yesterday with hubby because there's a field of sunflowers which he wanted to photograph. I noticed that 2 large fields had been planted with peas and what looked like broad beans, but the plants have now mostly died off without any of the peas and beans being picked.
just wondered why that would be as I'm fairly ignorant of farming techniques? Is it because peas and beans are nitrogen fixers?

 

[milkermel]

not sure but it may be they will be harvested as a whole crop for feed?

 

[garlicpickle]

Maybe, but they are all dried up and brown now. I'll keep an eye out over the next few weeks and see if I spot them being harvested or just ploughed back in.

 

[milkermel]

maize is past eating best when it is harvested for animal feed. they may even strip graze on it - will ask when i am milking this afternoon!

 

[ROCKIT]

Is it to introduce nitrogen from the roots as a natural fertiliser?

Just seem to remember something from crop rotation theory.

 

[beebopalula]

They are N fixers and I am told that some of the field beans are dried and exported to Turkey.

 

[enrico]

They are cattle feed

 

[Skyhook]

I don't know if it's connected, but farmers near me grow fields of maize, leave it to die and dry at the end of the season, then gather the whole lot with a forage harvester, stems, cobs and all, as cattle feed.


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[Gimlet]

Tic beans and white peas are left to dry in the pod before harvesting for pigeon feeds. As are peas and beans used for next years seed.

 

[snoop]

Could be field beans for protein additive to ration . It dies off burned looking before it is harvested in September. There was loads of it this year near me & the honey was light colour with a kind of a lemon smell from it

 

[garlicpickle]

I noticed the other day it has all been harvested. Previously the local woodpigeons were fattening up well on it.