Overview

Dry edible beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) are grown in more than 30 states with commercial-scale production in 18 states. North Dakota again ranked as the top producer of dry beans in 2010. Michigan, Nebraska, Minnesota and Idaho rounded out the top five states.  (NASS 2011).

U.S. production of dry beans totaled 31.8 million cwt in 2010 (NASS 2011). Although one of the world's leading dry bean exporters, the United States is also increasing its import of certain dry beans.  September 2011 ... Dry Edible Beans


Marketing

• Common Bean: The Nearly Perfect Food, Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Colombia - Explains why common beans are the world’s most important food legume.
• Dry Beans, Economic Research Service (ERS), USDA.
• Dry Edible Beans, Vegetables and Melons Outlook, ERS, USDA, 2009. 
• Economic Issues with Dry Edible Beans, Kansas State University, 2002.
• Factors Affecting Dry Bean Consumption in the United States, ERS, USDA, 2000 - This report examines the consumption distribution of dry beans, using a USDA food-intake survey. The southern and western areas of the United States use the most dry beans. People of Hispanic origin, 11 percent of the U.S. population, consume one-third of all dry beans.
• Global Agricultural Trade System (GATS), Foreign Ag Service, USDA, 2010.
• Nebraska Dry Bean Commission - The Commission’s primary function is to adopt and devise a dry bean program consisting of research, education, advertising, publicity and promotion to increase total consumption of dry beans on a state, national and international basis.
• Northarvest Bean Growers Association - Association of dry bean growers from the upper Midwest. Site includes grower information, bean dealers and consumer information.
• U.S. Dry Bean Council - A private trade association in the United States that represents growers and shippers of U.S. edible dry beans.

Production

• BeanGenes - A plant genome database that currently contains information relevant to Phaseolus and Vigna species.
• Center-Pivot-Irrigated Dry Edible Bean Cost-Return Budget in Western Kansas, Kansas State University, 2007.
• Could more nutritious crops help fight hunger?, Seattle Times, 2011 - The Centro Internactional de Agricultura Tropical is developing dozens of varieties of beans, including high-iron varieties, in an effort to boost the levels of vitamins and minerals in crops many Africans rely on for the bulk of their diets.
• Dry Beans, Integrated Pest Management guidelines, University of California, Davis. 
• Integrated Pest Management Pest Information Platform for Extension and Education (IPMPIPE) - An online warning system to help soybean farmers protect their crop from Asian Soybean Rust (ASR). Farmers can use maps of nationwide sentinel planting results to assess the likelihood of disease and whether there is need for preventative fungicide applications. Other management tools and information are available on this site.

Businesses/Case Studies

• 21st Century Alliance: Vertical Integration and the Pinto Bean Industry, Kansas State University, 2002 - Overview of the pinto bean industry and some decisions faced by 21st Century Alliance.
• Be'an smart, Ag Innovation News, Agricultural Utilization Research Institute, 2003 - A Minnesota company is seeking new uses for low-value navy bean culls.

Links checked January 2013.