Bill Greuel is beginning to believe his first impression will turn out to be wrong.
The oilseed crops specialist from Saskatchewan Agriculture travelled to Europe last summer to take a first-hand look at the fibre flax industry.
He came home convinced that for a variety of agronomic and economic reasons, Saskatchewan would never be able to produce adequate supplies of linen-quality fibre flax.
But after checking out the results from some 2003 research plots and gauging the interest from public funding agencies and private entrepreneurs, he has changed his mind.
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“The pieces of the puzzle are falling into place,” he said.
Greuel acknowledged there is a long way to go and much to learn, but he said it’s time to take a serious look at the future of the fibre flax industry.
“It’s a long-term process,” he said.
“It’s capital intensive and it’s labour intensive so it’s not something where we’re going to go from zero to 200,000 acres overnight.”
Greuel said a realistic goal would be to have a couple of thousand acres planted to fibre flax within the next five years, with individual farmers seeding only small parcels of land.
Richard Marleau of Biolin Research Inc., a private Saskatoon-based company that has studied the fibre flax industry, is confident it has a bright future, but agreed it will take some time to lay the proper groundwork.
“It’s to the point that we have enough knowledge to proceed cautiously,” he said.
“It’s too early to try to go to full-scale production.”
All of the flax varieties grown commercially in Saskatchewan are designed for oilseed production.
The fibre varieties grown in northern Europe are longer stemmed, standing 85 to 100 centimetres tall, compared with 50 to 70 cm for oilseed varieties. Bred for fibre production, they yield less than half the seed of oilseed varieties.
The costs of growing and harvesting fibre flax are significantly higher than oilseed flax.
The variable cost of production for fibre flax in the black soil zone of Saskatchewan is around $175 an acre compared to around $82 for oilseed flax.
Seeding costs alone are about $60 an acre for fibre flax compared to $7.35 an acre for oilseed, due to more expensive seed and higher seeding rates.
Specialized equipment is required and labour costs are higher due to a more complex harvesting process.
But those additional expenses are more than outweighed by the crop’s higher value, according to studies conducted by Biolin.
The gross revenues from fibre flax are around $300 per acre based on a yield of two tonnes per acre, yielding a net return over variable costs of around $125 an acre. By contrast, the net return for oilseed flax is around $70 an acre.
There are a number of challenges to be overcome, including the lack of locally suited varieties, the hot, dry growing season, and the need for capital investment in harvesting equipment and primary processing.
All fibre flax varieties that are available were developed for northern Europe and take too long to mature to succeed in Saskatchewan conditions.
As for the climate, the areas of Europe where fibre flax is produced have moderate temperatures and annual rainfall of around 900 millimetres, three to four times more than Saskatchewan.
Fall moisture is crucial because when fibre flax is harvested, it is left on the ground to ret, the term used to describe the process of rotting whereby the valuable fibre is separated from the rest of the stem, known as the shive.
It’s always been believed that Saskatchewan’s climate was too dry for retting to occur, but Greuel said the 2003 results from several research plots say otherwise.
Although it was a dry year, linen quality fibre was produced at several locations. At Tisdale, for example, fibres more than 70 cm long were produced.
“These results were better than I expected, ” said Greuel. “Based on these plots, I believe we should explore the concept of a fibre flax industry more fully.”
Another issue that must be addressed is the need for local primary processing plants to process the straw and separate the fibre from the shive.
Marleau said that creates a classic chicken and egg problem.
“Nobody wants to be the first to invest until they see it can be done, but we don’t know it can be done until someone invests,” he said, adding the plants may have to be developed through a combination of local, corporate and foreign investment.
Chinese linen producers are looking for new sources of fibre in the wake of declining acreage in that country and Chinese companies have been in contact with Saskatchewan officials about possible investment.
