Allotments 4 All

I was walking in Kent and came across a field of several acres that was being harvested by a huge machine.
It appeared to be some sort of bean left to dry on the "vine" but I didn't recognise the type and have never seen them grown there (or anywhere else) before..
Can anyone tell me what they are and what they are grown for - animal feed perhaps??

Looks similar to a broad bean/field bean?

I think they're just field beans.

I think it is a fava bean grown as a greenmanure they do harvest the pods

They are much smaller than a broad bean - sort of pea sized.  Those beans exposed to the sun were an orangey colour..
I though field/fava/broad bean were all the same thing?  The field is normally put out to grain so it could be grown as a green manure/nitrogen fixing thing I guess.

They're all the same species. There are pea sized versions, sometimes called favaroles. I have a couple in the freezer, one a rare Spanish variety, the other from the States.

Cheers for that - I asked an ex farmer and he said they were probably field beans for cattle feed. Are they tasty?

Yes. Wizard from Real Seeds is a good field bean type. Some are allegedly a bit coarse, so it's a question of try it and see.