Source
https://www.far.org.nz/resources/far-focus-8-faba-beans-a-growers-guide — original source (opens in a new tab; the file is not redistributed)
FAR Focus 8 — Faba beans: A growers’ guide (Dec 2012)
The NZ primary behind the food model's plant-protein cell (RT_289)
Foundation for Arable Research, FAR Focus Issue 08 (Dec 2012). Evidence base: a 55-paddock faba-bean survey (Canterbury & North Otago, 2010–11, jointly funded by FAR + MPI Sustainable Farming Fund) plus cultivar/sowing trials 2009–11. Retrieved direct from FAR (assets.far.org.nz), verified via pdftotext.
Summary
An FAR growers’ guide to faba beans (Vicia faba) in New Zealand arable rotations, drawing on three years of NZ trials and a two-season commercial paddock survey. It supplies the NZ-primary yield and whole-seed protein figures used to size the food model’s plant-protein (legume) path: a surveyed mean grain yield of 5.6 t/ha and whole-seed crude protein of 27.7% (spring cultivar) / 31.1% (winter cultivar), with protein rising as yield rises. Faba is presented as a nitrogen-fixing break crop that improves soil fertility and structure — a low-N crop even in conventional rotations.
Key claims
- claim: "NZ faba bean (Vicia faba) grain yield: 'Crops grown in New Zealand have yielded between 1 and 9 t/ha.' The two-season commercial paddock survey (55 paddocks, Canterbury and North Otago, 2010-11) found: 'The mean yield of paddocks surveyed was 5.6 t/ha with a range from 1 to 8.5 t/ha.'"
source_location: "Background ('yielded between 1 and 9 t/ha'); Sowing-date/plant-population survey key points ('mean yield ... 5.6 t/ha with a range from 1 to 8.5 t/ha')"
- claim: "Whole-seed crude protein content (Canterbury cultivar trials 2009-2011): 'The mean protein content of the spring cultivar over three years (2009 - 2011) was 27.7%; the winter cultivar had the higher average protein content at 31.1% from 2 years of data.' Protein correlates positively with yield: across a sample >100, 'for every 1 t/ha increase in grain yield, protein content increased by 0.52%' (spring +0.61%, winter +0.44% per t/ha). The protein basis (as-is vs dry-matter) and N-factor are not stated in the booklet."
source_location: "Protein content key points + Protein content section (Figure 16); yield-protein correlation key point"Neobiome Intelligence relevance
Provides the NZ primary behind the food model’s plant-protein path (diet_mode = vegetarian/vegan, D29; RT_289). The interim engine constant LEGUME_PROTEIN_KG_HA = 900 kg/ha can be lifted to a faba-based value: at the survey mean 5.6 t/ha and 27.7–31.1% whole-seed crude protein, edible protein ≈ 1,550 kg/ha (spring) to 1,740 kg/ha (winter) per year (faba is one annual crop).
Recommended model constant: ~1,500 kg protein/ha/yr — the conservative spring-cultivar end, which also absorbs the moisture-basis uncertainty (if the FAR protein % is dry-matter and the yield is at ~14% grain moisture, the as-eaten figure is ~1,330–1,500 kg/ha).
Caveats for the model:
- Faba-specific, conventional Canterbury/North-Otago arable — not a measured biointensive/regenerative NZ plot (RT_289 sought regenerative data; none is NZ-published, so faba is the best NZ primary). A community growing a mixed pulse plot (field peas ≈ 0.7 t protein/ha) rather than optimised faba would sit lower — treat ~1,500 as an achievable-with-faba upper-realistic value, not a floor. Field-pea/lupin primary raised as RT_291.
- Whole-seed crude protein (N×6.25, basis not stated in FAR) — not digestibility-adjusted, not an isolate.
- 2012 data; but faba is nitrogen-fixing (low-N break crop), so it partly fits the project’s low-input food scope even though the trials were conventional.
Research targets
Documents to retrieve
- None new — this source is itself the NZ primary.
Research gaps
- RT_291 — NZ field-pea + lupin yield × protein primary (plus the newer NZ faba cross-checks: Navneet et al. 2025 Legume Science — delivered → LIT_088; PwC/FAR pea+faba protein-extraction feasibility, still outstanding) — to replace the faba-only figure with a representative mixed-pulse plant-protein value.
Notes
PDF downloaded direct from FAR (assets.far.org.nz/uploads/26313_FAR_focus_8_-_faba_beans.pdf), authoritative, no AI-retrieval provenance. Figures grep-confirmed via pdftotext. data_quality high (industry-body NZ trial + survey primary).
Recency check (2026-07-06): FAR Focus 8 (2012) remains the best verifiable NZ faba yield×protein primary; newer NZ sources corroborate rather than supersede it. Web-surfaced cross-checks (tracked as RT_291): FAR Research No. 21 (2006 trials) top cultivar 5.7 t/ha (not independently opened/verified); Navneet et al. 2025 (Legume Science) NZ faba varieties ~24–27% protein — now retrieved & verified 2026-07-20 → LIT_088 (flour crude protein 24.81–27.49%, Canterbury 2022–23); a PwC/FAR pea+faba protein-extraction feasibility (MPI-funded) uses a 3.5–5 t/ha yield parameter. These bracket the 2012 survey figures at both ends.
Connections
Links to
Sources (1): LIT_088
Referenced by