Winners of the BEPA (British Edible Pulse Association) annual pulse competition were presented with their prizes for the highest performing pulse crops from the 2010 harvest at the BEPA Annual Dinner.

“BEPA holds the competition each year to encourage pulse growing and to underline the success that good pulse growers can achieve,” says Phil Rix, BEPA's President. “There were 84 entries from our merchant members, and the excellent results are reflected in the quality of the winning entries.”
This year's featured winner is James Bullivant of D&H Bullivant, who farms 180ha (445 acres) near Horncastle, Lincs, growing wheat, oilseed rape, spring barley, spring beans and peas. James is pictured here with the National Class 1 Winner Cup for his sample of Sakura Marrowfat Peas.

“The peas were drilled early and they looked good from the start, says James. “We know our fields and the weed spectrum and, with long experience, know that unless you get the weed control right, you are in trouble from Day One.

“So we are lucky that we have a tried and trusted agronomist in John Bayes who does our field walking. The peas had a pre-em and post-em mix and, with losing some important chemicals in the last few seasons, the skill is to get the mix right - and also the timing right.

“As we got into summer, it was a big help that we had a long dry spell from June until harvest - and it this year it was a good three weeks earlier than usual. We started harvesting the peas on 24th July."

To make his point, James showed the names engraved on the BEPA Cup: “Nearly all the previous winners are in Essex, and it is no coincidence that this is the driest part of the UK!”

“All-in-all, I was pleased with the yield considering the season we had - it was an average year for yields - but the quality made up for that,” James adds.