Farm406

• 31 FARM 406 F 406 A G - S E R V I C E S "ALMOST ACCURATE" is OK if you"KINDA" want results. 2705 Front Street • Fort Benton, MT triangleag.com • 406.622.3887 Trimble Intelligent Ag OPI Integris Next Instruments Ag Leader Internet for Ag RainWise Custom GIS Services A G - S E R V I C E S said Diekhans. "Because it is such an expensive crop to plant and it can easily be destroyed by disease, we check our fields at least every 48 hours to make certain the crop is staying healthy." WHEN TO HARVEST Mature pods are usually at the bottom of the plant. Desiccants are frequent- ly used on this crop since they are a contact herbicide which only impacts the tissue in which they come in con- tact. "We desiccate with Paraquat be- fore harvest when the pods are mostly ripe. It reduces the moisture content from around 20 percent down to less than 15 percent," said Diekhans. "To prevent damage, especially with the kabuli that is prone to crack, slow everything down a good 15 percent—especially combines and augers," said Diekhans. "What sur- prised me the most about the chickpea crop is that it is fairly resilient to hail over what I have experienced with cereal crops and corn." What prevents producers from planting the chickpea is their inexpe- rience with the crop and the neces- sity for intensive crop management, especially at preventing ascochyta blight. Growing chickpea becomes a team sport since growers have to be responsible for preventing disease in their fields so that it doesn't spread to the neighboring fields. Those who take the challenge after learning best practices for growing chickpea find that they have expanded their crop selection to include a highly profitable new crop. Having grown up on a farm that is still in the family, Suzanne Waring maintains an interest in advances being made in agriculture. Street vendors in India sell chickpea and other pulses by the bulk. Photo courtesy of Jeff VanPevenage of Columbia Grain.

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