Alvin Ulrich started his presentation to last week’s flax fibre conference with a photo almost guaranteed to dismay those in the audience, particularly those from Europe.
It was an aerial shot of billowing black clouds rising from fields of burning flax straw.
“Our goal should be to make a profit from flax straw, not burn it,” said Ulrich of Crop Fibres Canada and president of Biolin Research Inc.
As far as most western Canadian flax growers are concerned, once the crop has been cut and the seed has been harvested, there’s little value left in the field.
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For European farmers, the opposite is true.
For them, the value of their flax crop is in the straw and fibre, which are processed into a variety of industrial products.
Many in the Canadian flax industry think there is a potentially huge and lucrative market for Canadian flax straw and fibre.
“The time is right to look at this,” said Linda Braun, executive director of the Saskatchewan Flax Development Commission.
Last week, more than 130 researchers and plant fibre industry officials from 17 countries gathered in Saskatoon to talk about the fibre industry.
There were presentations on production, processing, product development and plant breeding, many of them highly technical.
But a common theme among Canadian participants was the need for the flax industry here to turn serious attention to developing a fibre flax sector.
Canada is already the world leader in linseed flax production, which is growing as health-conscious consumers become more aware of the benefits of flax seed or oil in their diets.
“We’re interested in using the entire plant,” said Braun.
“We want to maintain our position as the marketer of the highest quality flaxseed in the world, but if we could add straw and fibre to the mix, that could lead to increased returns, increased acreage and farmers will hopefully make more money.”
The annual plant fibre conference, which is usually held in Europe, was brought to Saskatchewan in part to boost awareness of the diverse range of products that can be produced from flax, as well as the agronomic and management issues involved in growing it.
Flax growers in Western Canada produce an average of slightly less than 10 tonnes of straw per acre, although it varies widely according to weather conditions, soil and agronomic practices.
Growers can chop and spread, bale and sell, or burn their flax straw. When straw is dropped out of a combine and baled, the yield is usually about half of the potential. Ulrich said only about 15 to 20 percent of the flax straw dropped behind combines every year is used for any commercial or non-commercial purpose.
Some flax varieties grown in Western Canada produce suitable quality and quantity of fibre, but there is only one major buyer.
Ulrich told the conference the future of a flax fibre industry in Western Canada will depend on a number of factors:
- The presence of buyers ready to buy the products at suitable prices.
- The relative profitability of flax production versus other crops.
- The ability to produce retted (partially rotted) flax straw in the field or by other methods.
- The existence of technology to process straw, fibre and shive (the non-fibrous part of the stem).
- The ability to consistently produce large, commercial quality fibre over time.
