The Processors and Growers Research Organisation will establish the Pulse Performance Network (PPN) this autumn, marking a significant new chapter for crop benchmarking and analysis for pea and bean growers.

Following 10 successful years of the pulse yield enhancement networks (YENs) under ADAS, the PGRO will create a new structure and a sharpened focus on delivering practical, farm-ready insights for today’s growers.

Benchmarking has a strong reputation for bringing together growers, agronomists, researchers, and industry partners to push the boundaries of crop productivity, environmental performance, and grain quality.

Under PGRO’s leadership, the network aims to introduce new tools and approaches designed to make participation easier and more valuable.

Announcing the news at today’s Cereals event in Oxfordshire , PGRO Research Agronomist Erin Matlock said: “The fundamental aim of the PPN is simple: to make participation easier, faster, and more valuable for growers.

“The goal is not just to measure performance, but to ensure every dataset collected translates into something meaningful, whether that’s improving yield efficiency, enhancing crop quality, or reducing environmental impact. The PPN aims to turn data into decisions.”

The transition to the PPN is more than a name change, says Erin.

“By simplifying participation, strengthening collaboration, and focusing on actionable insight, the PPN aims to ensure every participant walks away with knowledge that can be applied directly to their farming system. This evolution will support both growers and the industrial supply chain as the sector works towards greater productivity, consistency, and resilience in UK pulse crops.

“We’re looking forward to launching this next chapter and continuing its work with growers and industry partners to drive innovation and improvement across the pulse sector.”

A modern approach built around the grower

To support a more streamlined approach, the PGRO has developed a dedicated PPN app that will allow participants to record crop management information directly in the field throughout the season.

“At present, most farmers find themselves sitting in front of their computers at the end of the season, trying to remember dates, application rates and seeding rates,” explains Erin.

“The new PPN app is designed to capture this information in real-time, immediately documenting all the data on-the-go. The option to input all the data at the end of the season is still there, should they choose, but farmers have raised concerns in the past around the time it takes to collect and input data. This will hopefully alleviate this burden.”

The app will be available exclusively to PPN participants and protected through secure login access.

Fair and transparent pricing

The PGRO has confirmed that a key principle underpinning the new network is fairness in pricing and access.

There will be no price differences between grower-led and sponsored entries, no volume-based discounts, and a single participation fee across the network.

“This approach creates a level playing field for everyone involved and reflects the true cost of delivering robust, high-quality analysis,” Erin says. “It also reinforces our commitment to maintaining an independent, farmer-focused benchmarking system.”

Focus groups to generate commercially relevant insights

A key feature of the new programme will be the introduction of focused grower groups.

Brought together by sponsors, these groups will evaluate a shared concept under real field conditions. The approach is intended to generate field-scale data while providing participants with both individual and wider network comparisons.

“Focus groups will help bridge the gap between trial work and the realities of commercial farming,” explains Erin. “They will provide a clearer understanding of how innovations perform across different conditions.

“We are asking for those in the pea and bean supply chains to bring focus groups forward and sponsor their entries.”

Participation in a focus group will remain entirely optional, with all growers continuing to have access to full benchmarking, performance analysis, annual reporting and in-season insights regardless of sponsorship arrangements.

A reimagined final report

PPN’s new reporting format has been redesigned to deliver insight that is easier to interpret and useful for farm management.

The new report format will include clearer front-page summaries, comparisons against five-year averages and greater use of in-season benchmarking information to support management decisions.

“We want to move the conversation beyond simply asking how many tonnes were produced,” says Erin. “The more important question is how efficiently growers achieved the potential available to them.

“That shift helps identify realistic opportunities for continuous improvement and supports more sustainable productivity gains.”

The PPN will officially open for applications in September.