IT'S expected an increased amount of faba beans will be planted in the Gnowangerup area this season, after the bean was the unlikely pick of the shire's 2016 community crop.
The Gnowangerup Community Crop Committee planted 330 hectares last year, made up of 150ha of faba beans, 100ha of oaten hay and 80ha of lupins.
It was the first time the committee planted the pulse, and the decision proved a wise one with the Fiesta variety bean yielding an estimated 3.5 tonnes a hectare.
Primaries CRT agronomist Tom McInerney managed the cropping program and said the beans were the standout performer thanks to favourable conditions throughout the season.
"It was a pretty handy result - I think it was thanks to a combination of really good seasonal timing and a reasonable sort of finish," he said.
"The beans were sown around April 5 and we had some really good early rains to get them going so they were well established by the time it set in wet.
"We were pretty proactive with fungicides and kept it pretty well disease-free - it worked out really well."
Mr McInerney said with the help of five headers, four chaser bins and a few trucks, local farmers took the crop off in 24 hours in mid-December.
"Basically all the time and all the labour is donated so it's really good to see such great community involvement," he said.
Mr McInerney said the success of the community bean crop had led to an increase in inquiries about the bean for future plantings.
"I think the faba beans have raised a lot of eyebrows because they've been right on the main road into Gnowangerup so there's been a lot of people interested," he said.
"One of the big plusses with the faba beans is that they provide a fantastic stubble the following year for sheep, and a lot of our growers are dual crop and sheep farmers."
The group's Carrolup variety hay crop yielded approximately 5t/ha, while the Jenabillup lupins yielded an estimated 2.1t/ha.
In previous years, funds made from the community crop have gone towards several projects at the Gnowangerup Sporting Complex - including a new pool, an artificial hockey and tennis turf, and improvements to the facility's bar and function room.
Gnowangerup Community Crop Committee president Wayne Pech said despite a fall in the price of faba beans, he hoped the funds made from the crop will go towards further upgrades and maintenance of the complex.
"The price for beans is pretty soft at the moment. Egypt is the main buyer and they've really pulled back but hopefully there might be some price upside later in the year," he said.
"We're putting on a half-time labour unit to actually manage the ins and outs of the complex and just getting things happening to take the pressure off volunteers so some of the money will go towards that.
"We've just paid off some pretty big projects so we just want to consolidate and build up a bit of an assets fund to pay for the future upgrades and future maintenance of the complex."
Mr Pech said the committee planned to plant the entire community crop to canola next year.
"We're not really looking at price, it's just from a rotational point of view. We just want to really get some grass control," he said.
