Better seed genetics and strong market prices are putting kidney beans on the radar for an increasing number of edible bean growers in Ontario.
On this episode of RealAgriculture’s Edible Bean School, Hensall Co-op origination manager Wade Bickell looks at the evolution of kidneys and how two new varieties, Dynasty and Gallantry, have helped fuel yield expectations for this class of beans. “In 2005, if you got 22 bags to the acre you thought you hit a home run,” he says. “Now it’s possible to get 40 bags to the acre. It’s incredible what the varieties have done for us here in this market.”
2024 brought strong prices for growers, which were driven by crop challenges in Argentina, as well as an acre reduction and slightly lower yields for North American kidneys. “That raised the value for the farmer at harvest and got people more interested in kidney beans,” Bickell says.
For 2025, Bickell expects the market for kidneys to be very strong. “We have values out there today with spreads in price between the small seeded beans and dark red kidneys that I’ve never seen before,” he notes.
In the video, Bickell also shares key management and agronomic strategies — the bigger kidney seeds need good moisture at planting and growers need to be mindful of cracked seed coats at harvest.
“The only way that we can ensure that we have a good quality kidney bean is to use an edible bean combine,” says Bickell. “That means you’re going to have to use a knife puller or a rod puller to cut those and put them into windrows and then use the proper edible bean combine to harvest them.”
Bickell says there are good kidney bean contracts now available and it’s also a good time for growers to make plans to have an edible bean combine available for acres they intend to plant in 2025. Watch the video below.
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