Fields of black dying plants.

[HeyWayne]

What is it?

In some of the fields near where I live there are some plants that have blackened and look like they're dead. Earlier in the year the plants looked a bit like broad bean plants (I didn't get up close enough to see any pods - but overall they looked similar), but they've never been harvested and look as if they've just been left. It's definitely a cultivated plant, but I've no idea what it is, or what it would be used for? Grown about 4ft tall, and as I say - now looks like it's been left for dead.

Any ideas?

[Capsid]

Perhaps the farmer couldn't harvest them or didn't want to.

[SlugLobber]

Some crops I think are grown to simply concentrate the nutrients and bring them up from deeper soils, then are ploughed in for autumn sowing of the new crop. No idea what it could be - the farmer behind my old house used to sow cabbage-type things and then put some sheep on there for a few weeks, presumably to fertilise the land a bit more!

[Pootle]

They're beans - they'll be ploughed back in or sometimes around here they get collected up when they're dried out...

[Headfry]

Think they might be broad beans HW, seen loads round here too!

[phil the shed]

hi HW
they do the same around here when they have to leave the field fallow on a cropping field they will grow beans or peas to increase nitrogen in the soil and then ploughing this back into the soil for next sowing.

[Capsid]

They should open the field up for a PYO. What a waste of beans, assuming they are beans of the edible variety.

[Flummery]

Most will be field beans - a bit nasty to my mind. OK for animal feed though.

[vicky]

I'd agree with Flummery, they're Field Beans, look much the same as broad but are not that nice to eat.
They use them round here as a fallow crop as they fix nitrogen and plough them back in (they do harvest some but only enough for the following year)

[Hilary B]

Definitely sound like field beans (if you look closely when they are growing, the pods will be much smaller than broadbean pods). It seems a pity not to harvest the pods and use the beans for livestock feed, instead of importing soya from half-way around the world......

[willowstar]

sounds like field beans to me too...they smell gorgeous earlier in the summer. my understanding is that the whole plant is mushed up together and used for cattle feed.

[Headfry]

Great for honey bees when in flower, makes the best honey ever

[JanieB]

Ex-farmers wife here. Probably field beans grown for fodder. Other option is taties. Holms die off, time to dig 'em up.

[HayleyB]

We have them in the field opposite, they're normally for cattle feed but in this case I reckon he may be looking at putting down rape next year, I'm pretty sure it's the rape's turn I seem to remember wheat last year, so I think the one opposite will be ploughed back in. Oh Joy - rape snuffles next year