The Central Lakes College Ag and Energy Center at the Staples campus will lead a study on how to increase efficiency in edible bean production.
The Ag and Energy Center was recently awarded a $36,000 specialty crop block grant from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture to complete the study.
"Edible beans are an expensive crop to experiment with due to high input costs," said Hannah Barrett, research coordinator of CLC's Ag and Energy Center, in a news release. "The importance of this trial is to determine the best practices in growing edible beans so farmers can avoid risking their own profit margins. Ultimately, we want this study to help increase profit margins for area producers."
Barrett authored the grant request with CLC farm manager Ron Nelson. The project will start this summer and will span two years. The edible bean grant is a two-fold experiment that determines the effect of varying in-furrow applications, as well as varying top dress applications of fertilizers, and its subsequent effect on yield.
