My cropping rotation is wheat-peas-lentils-wheat-canola. One year between wheats and three years between pulses and canola. The positive picture of pulses in the rotation and this is especially true of peas is the yield boost the following year on wheat. I've typically enjoyed five and sometimes as much as eight bushels/acre gain following peas and have seen evidence of yield boosts 2 years after peas. Pulse stubble, usually being black is always warmer and sometimes dries quicker in spring , thereby giving opportunity to possibly seed a parcel of land a day or two earlier.

Rotations can be a magical cure for your economic woes or they can be your ruination if good agronomic practices are not followed.

Diseases with long uglv names like Ascochyta blight and Anthracnose in lentils. Mycosphaerella blight and powdery mildew in peas, and sclerotinia in everything including canola seem to be able to establish themselves very quickly, particularly in wetter years and on tightened rotations making sure any profit you thought may come disappear. Controls for most of these diseases run $20-25/acre.

Don't let this scare you off, just be aware and try not to pay the farm off in one year.

Peas need to be in good moisture 2 to 3 times as long as wheat seed to get gerrninated and get their root out and going. I've liked to seed at 1.75 to 2.25 inches, bearing in mind that if 3 days of hot drying wind come my peas are still in moisture. If really dry conditions exist (which rarely seems to happen under zero till) peas can be seeded from 3 to 3.5 inches deep and have no problem with emerging.

I treat pea seed with both a peat base and liquid inoculant for nitrogen fixing and thiram for seedling diseases and increased emergence percentages.

A good seed treating device is well worth the effort to spend a little time designing and building. My brother's treater pictured here may not be pretty but is very functional. Its an old Rypro sprayer pump, 3 HP briggs, 30 gallon hopper and a few valves. We put 15-20 gallons of water with the 2 inocualants and thiram, recirculate for 3-4 minutes for a good mix. and apply to about 200 bus of peas. We changed from using a belt conveyer to run the seed to the truck to a slow running auger because we found the mixing action to be inadequate in the conveyer. Although this results in a few more cracked peas a poorly inoculated or untreated pea is perhaps worse.

Keep in mind the weather or breakdowns as inoculated seed should be in the ground within 24 hours.

Before, during and after seeding it is important to be aware of how smooth the field needs to be come harvest. I harrow before seeding to break down last years wheat straw, after my air drill and once again within 2 or 3 days after seedings to achieve a smooth field.

Land rolling is an operation I can not stress enough. If you don't own one, rent, buy, borrow or beg one from your neighbor. Regardless of the claimed standablitiy of the pea variety, for your own mental sanity and the health of your combine do not neglect this operation. I've seen the very best standing varieties end up 2" off the ground following a hard driving wind and rain on a heavy crop 2 weeks before harvest. One needs to be prepared to harvest flat peas and the roller is the first step in that process.

A good land roller will drive football size rocks out of harms way and smooth your field. Smoothed fields increase harvest speed and reduce earth tag in all harvest conditions, especially if ,the soil is wet. Last fall I was able to harvest very flat 55 bus/acre ascona peas at 4 to 5 mph on slightly wet soil. I've been there long enough to know that would have been roughly 2 mph without proper field preparation.

Good weed control on our farm usually starts with pre-harvest round-up on the previous wheat crop. This seems to be the only way to get good control of Canada thistle without hurting the peas. From there each field needs to be planned and dealt with on an individual basis. One note in this preplanning process is that peas only become good competitors 6 to 7 weeks after planting and that semi-leafless, shot vined varieties may not be competitive at all. That means both timing and previous field cleanliness are essential. Know your options and plan ahead.

While wheat may be to some extent a no brainer to grow and holidays are great, peas may have a few things happen to them that if not controlled may see your harvest not quite what you expected if you were at the lake for a week or two and your teenager decides checking crops leads to too many rnosquito bites or Nancy is more important right now!

The threshold for aphids is 2 per flower. With only 3 to 4 flowers per plant at any time that's not a lot of aphids. To find the rascals you really have to dig and separate the flower petals and look closely. High numbers around the neck of the pod at early tilling can also be a problem.

Mycosphaerella blight and powdery mildew start establishing themselves at about this time under good growing conditions. I try to check for aphids and diseases about every, 2 - 3 days depending on conditions and if spraying is needed brace myself to write yet another big check. I've often found that if I need to spray Brovo fungicide for mycosphaerella control that is becomes cost effective to add insecticide and/or Kumulus for powdery mildew control to the planes sprayer tank at this time as well.

Many devices are available for getting the peas into the combine. Probably the best is a nice standing field. However this .never seems to happen to me so I've learnt well how to deal with flat peas. Its my strong suggestion that anyone growing peas prepares for the worst and hopes for the best.

There are flex heads, sund or rake up type pickups, the new unreel., draper heads, swathers and ridge heads. All of which can work, some better than others.

Pea producers in our area have very strongly gone to using draper heads (Macdon or Honey Bee) with German made spring lifter disturbed in N.A. by Honey Bee. This combination has proven to be the quickest, least loss and very versatile harvest head for all crops. The lifter is a quick change, none breaking tough lifter. Because of its spring steel construction it seems to help the draper heads to float over rocks and ridges.

A header height indicator can be a great stress saver if set up properly. It saves having to guess between hitting the ground with your header or missing peas.

Poly skid plates are low cost and can help sliding over moist soil.

A short note about harvesting lentils. Don't be afraid to resickle a slightly worn knife, the biggest lentils are very close to the ground and already worn knife running in the dirt can easily leave $300 worth of lentils in the field.

Gentle, gentle, gentle. The difference in price between a good yellow food quality to a cracked feed pea likely averages about $2. Much higher is your greens are reduced to feed for the same reason. Harvesting at 18-20% moisture, slow cylinder or rotor speeds, belt conveyers and hopper bins all help maximize returns. You didn't work this hard to get where just to lose it on handling.

However that said, if you are only growing yellow and are not into seed production take time to review whither belt conveyers and hopper bins are the best places to spend your dollars.

The year to year success in almost any venture from special crops to vacationing with your family depends to a great extent on how well you've prepared yourself for it.

Research your project

*Pencil out the economics risk-reward

*Talk to seed suppliers yield, standablitity, food quality characteristics

seed size & ability to withstand bleaching of greens

*Talk to other growers

Be the best manager you can be and remove or lower the risks that you have control over. As Cal Ripken Sr. said when managing the Baltimore Orioles "It's like the bank gentlemen. you can only get out of it what you put into it".

Good luck in 98!