Why Chickpeas Make Sense on Our Farm: Water, Fertilizer, and What Comes Next

 

Out here in Eastern Montana, farming decisions are made with a calculator in one hand and the weather forecast in the other. We don’t have unlimited moisture. We don’t have cheap fertilizer. So when we add a crop to our rotation, it has to earn its place.

That’s why chickpeas matter on our farm. Not because they’re popular, but because they change the math.

Water use: what crops really need

People talk about water use a lot, but it helps to keep it simple.

Wheat, oats, and chickpeas are all grown dryland in Montana. That means we rely on stored soil moisture and rainfall, not irrigation. The difference is how each crop handles that moisture.

Oats need the most consistent moisture. They respond well to rain, but they suffer fast when it shuts off. Wheat does better than oats, but it still needs moisture early and again at heading to make yield.

Chickpeas grow differently. They are slower early, root deeper, and tend to handle dry stretches better once established. In average or dry Montana years, chickpeas often hold yield more consistently than oats and sometimes wheat.

If you look at global water footprint data, wheat and oats use less total water per ton than chickpeas. But most of the water tied to chickpeas is rainwater, not irrigation. That distinction matters. Chickpeas aren’t pulling heavily from rivers or aquifers in dryland systems like ours.

That’s also why chickpeas are often compared favorably to almonds. Almonds grown in irrigated systems can require several times more water per pound than chickpeas. Chickpeas don’t carry that kind of water burden.

Fertilizer: where chickpeas really shine

This is the biggest difference, and it’s not close.

Wheat and oats need nitrogen. Oats typically require about one pound of nitrogen for every bushel of expected yield. Wheat often needs closer to three pounds of available nitrogen per bushel, depending on class and conditions.

Using recent Montana averages, that roughly pencils out to:

• oats needing around 35 to 40 pounds of nitrogen per acre

• spring wheat often needing 70 to 80 pounds of nitrogen per acre

With nitrogen fertilizer prices hovering around 70 cents per pound of actual nitrogen, that’s roughly:

• 25 dollars per acre just for nitrogen on oats

• 50 to 55 dollars per acre on wheat

That’s before phosphorus, sulfur, fuel, or application costs.

Chickpeas are different. They are legumes. They fix their own nitrogen when properly inoculated. That means we’re not buying nitrogen for chickpeas, and we’re often reducing nitrogen needs for the crop that follows.

From a farm budget standpoint, that alone makes chickpeas worth paying attention to.

Typical Montana yields look roughly like this:

• wheat averages 30 bushel 

• spring wheat 20 bushels

• oats around 30 bushels

• chickpeas around 1,000 pounds per acre (16 bushels)

Those numbers move every year with weather, but they explain why rotation matters more than chasing one big yield.

What chickpeas do for the next crop

One of the least talked-about benefits of chickpeas is what happens after they’re harvested.

Montana State University rotation studies often assume wheat yields following pulse crops are about 10 percent higher than wheat grown continuously. That assumption isn’t marketing. It’s built into their economic models.

Why?

• leftover nitrogen from the legume

• better soil structure

• fewer disease and weed issues

That doesn’t mean wheat after chickpeas is guaranteed to be better every year. But over time, the rotation tends to perform better and require less fertilizer.

Nutrition: why consumers want chickpeas

From a food standpoint, chickpeas deliver more than wheat or oats.

Pound for pound, chickpeas provide more protein and much more fiber than cereal grains. They also contain higher levels of iron and zinc, nutrients many people don’t get enough of.

Wheat and oats are excellent energy foods. Chickpeas are more nutrient dense. That’s why chickpeas are showing up in flours, snacks, and baking mixes. They add nutrition, not just calories.

The bottom line from the field

We still grow wheat. Oats still have a place. But chickpeas earn their spot in our rotation.

They:

• handle dry conditions well

• reduce fertilizer costs

• improve the next crop

• deliver strong nutrition to the end consumer

At the end of the day, there isn’t one perfect crop that fits every farm. What matters is choosing crops that actually work where you live. Farmers have to look at what grows well in their climate, what makes sense financially, what improves the soil instead of wearing it out, and what truly feeds people. When a crop checks all of those boxes — profitability, soil health, nutrition, and long-term sustainability — that’s where the future of farming starts.