Frost and drought are major perils affecting snap beans. Snap bean plants are very sensitive to cold temperatures and will freeze from a slight frost. Snap beans are also sensitive to moisture stress, particularly during flowering and pod development. Moisture stress during flowering will most likely cause blossoms to fall off the plant and consequently result in a substantial decline in yields. Moisture deprivation during pod development can also lengthen the maturity period and result in small, shrivelled pods.
Excess moisture can also result in low yields.
Beans, along with many vegetable crops, may be subject to many diseases during the growing cycle. Root rot, damping-off, and seed rots are major diseases of snap beans. Proper crop rotations, field selection, sanitation, plant spacings, fertilization, irrigation, and the use of resistant varieties can reduce the risk of many diseases. This total accounted for 61 percent of the total disaster payments made to snap bean growers, including payments made to growers of snap beans for processing. Lack of moisture, very wet conditions, hail, and freeze were the widely-cited production perils during this period.